Beauty and the Brain
by bloodrosered
Summary: Sheila Donovan, a class clown, transfers to Shermer High School, ending up in detention with a group of students from different cliques. After getting to know them and developing romance, Sheila develops a sense of belonging. Rated T for now. Rating may change. Swearing, drugs, sex. UPDATED!
1. Prologue: A Fresh Start

_Based on the movie and the game app, Series:Your Universe. I would personally like to thank StyleFangirl34 and a select role players for inspiration and role playing as well. _

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**Friday, March 23rd** **1984**: **Shermer** **High** **School**, **Shermer Illinois**

It was her first day at Shermer High. Sheila Donovan was dropped off by her maternal grandfather, Joseph Winger—a hardened but kind former WWII veteran.

Sheila Donovan stood at 5'7''. She had a boyish body with some muscle and was small chested, giving one the impression of a slender Amazon. Her shoulder length copper hair framed her oval-shaped face that was dotted with freckles across her cheeks and nose. Her eyes were an emerald green that glittered with mischief. Her mouth seemed to have a permanent smirk as if she had tricks in mind.

She wore her grandfather's Army jacket—donned with real patches. She wore a black and white striped t-shirt, a pair of jeans and black converses. She wore silver earrings: two sets of studs in her lobes and one in the helix of her left ear. She had a stack of black jelly bracelets on her left wrist and a silver anchor ring on her right forefinger.

"Be good," he told her.

Sighing, Sheila got out of Joseph's 1963 Buick. She reflected on her old life. She was angry. She had a lot of shit going on: from her parents' divorce and her mother's remarriage to being sent away to live with her grandfather. Then having to transfer in the middle of the school year due to less than desirable circumstances.

Another school. Another life. It sucked being the new kid.

Flipping her hair away from her eyes, she went to her first class of the day. History with Mrs. Russell. She walked down the hallways, looking at the piece of paper that contained her classes and at the door numbers she passed by. Once she found Mrs. Russell's class, she sat in the back, hoping to keep a low profile. She stared out the window, looking at her own reflection. She hoped this would be a fresh start. She had promised her grandfather she'd be good.

"Hey," a voice said in front of her.

The voice was very quiet, shy, slightly lispy—while the deep tone indicated it was a male, there was a hint that his voice change was still developing. Glancing over, the sun shining through the window seemed to illuminate the male student who had turned around to face her. The boy reminded Sheila of an angel: his face was sweet and innocent with his wavy blond hair and shy, yet inquisitive blue eyes. Once she got past the eyes and hair, she noticed some finer details—he had a few pimples. He had braces on his teeth, making his Cupid bow lips pout slightly and giving him a slight lisp. His eyebrows and lashes were so pale that they seemed to blend in with his skin. His attire seemed to prove he was a geek: he wore a sweater that seemed too proper for a public high school. His khakis rode up to show his sock clad ankles—she could only assume either his pants were shrinking or he was going through a growth spurt. He wore blue Nike sneakers; he failed to notice one of the shoelaces were loose.

Still, Sheila couldn't help but admit that he was adorkable.

"Hey," she said, moving an annoying strand of hair out of her eyes.

The redhead spoke to him? The boy was stunned. No girl had ever spoken to him before. They'd either nod, ignored, or dismissed him with disgust. Her ginger hair looked like flames in the sunlight and her eyes were stunning shade of emerald green. The endless freckles on her nose and cheeks. Her attire gave off a tomboyish impression. She seemed to give off a mischievous air like an elf or a fairy.

"Must suck being the new kid, huh?" he commented.

Sheila gave a smirk. "Well, considering that it's only 11:15 am and I'm wedgie free...I'd say it's a small victory."

The geek chuckled lightly as he gave the back of his pants a tug.

"I wish I could say the same," he answered.

Sheila could guess that this happened a lot with this kid. She responded with a light giggle, biting her lip.

"I'm Brian."

"Sheila."

"Do you like history class? It's my favorite."

"Yea. I enjoy it. Especially about World War II."

"Mrs. Russell keeps it pretty interesting. You'll love her."

When the final warning bell rang, the door opened. A tall, severe looking man dressed in a dated leisure suit stepped into the room. He appeared to be about mid forties or early fifties. His hair was dark brown with some strands of gray. His eyes were a steel gray that gave off an authoritarian air. He had a black leather glasses case that was clipped in the breast pocket of his sport coat. Encircling his slender waist was a black leather belt with a silver buckle. He wore black leather dress shoes. On his left pinky, he wore a gold ring with a green stone.

"Not exactly how I pictured Mrs. Russell," Sheila said, arching an eyebrow.

Brian groaned. "That's Vice Principal Vernon."

The man known as Vernon went to the front of the room.

"Listen up people!" he announced in a voice that meant no nonsense. "Your beloved Mrs. Russell is out for the rest of the semester due to what is officially being called "exhaustion"...so yours truly will be filling in until further notice."

More groans from the students.

"Which means...you may get an education for a change," he continued.

"Only if it's a course in how to be an asshole," a voice murmured in the back.

Sheila turned to see a jock dressed in a blue letterman jacket sitting to her right. He had light brown hair and blue eyes with an arrogant smirk. The name ANDY was scrawled in white stitching on the breast above a large blue S. He was trying to stifle a snicker.

The vice principal, who seemed to have ears like a hawk, glared at the jock.

"Mr. Clark...would you care to repeat that?" Vernon asked waspishly.

The man stared at the jock for a long time. Andy looked down at his desk, staying quiet after that comment.

"I thought so," Vernon remarked.

Sheila just prayed to get through this day without being noticed. It was then Mr. Vernon turned his attention to her.

"We have a new student joining us today," he announced. "Everyone please welcome Miss Sheila Donovan to our fine institution."

God! Could this prick get any more pretentious? Sheila listened to the murmur of students and their greetings.

"Why don't you tell everyone why you're here at Shermer?" Mr. Vernon suggested.

Sheila didn't feel like talking about why she was here. She just wanted to get through class and get it over with.

"Oh! I did not realize I had a choice..." she replied sarcastically.

Some students began laugh. Vernon wasn't amused by the flippant reply.

"Watch it, Donovan," the vice principal warned. "Shermer doesn't need another wise ass. Consider this your first, and last, warning."

Sheila made a mocking sneer, imitating Vernon. This dude was a dick.

"I've read your file," he added.

_I bet you found it REALLY interesting_, Sheila thought with an eye roll.

"Mr. Vernon, isn't that kind of...private?" a girl spoke up, concerned.

Glancing towards the front row, Sheila saw a fashionably dressed girl with short red hair. Judging by her appearance, this girl was in the popular crowd. A richie, perhaps. Vernon turned towards the popular girl with his hands in his pockets.

"I don't think that's any of your concern, Claire," he said with a frown.

The man moved down aisle towards Sheila's desk with his hands on his hips, towering over her. His steel gray eyes were smoldering as he locked with the green ones of the smart mouthed redhead. Leaning back in her seat, she crossed her arms, glaring at him with defiance.

"Shermer's a good school. Thanks to me," he said.

_I'm sure it is, dick._ Sheila thought with cynicism.

"And I'm gonna make sure it stays that way. Understand?"

Sheila stayed quiet, poking her tongue in her cheek, keeping her eyes on this pretentious prick.

"Maybe we should just get on with class...?" Claire said uncomfortably. "It's getting late."

Mr. Vernon glared in Claire's direction.

"I don't think you, of all people, should be talking about being late for class, Miss Standish," he sneered.

Claire stayed quiet after this harsh comment, looking pretty embarrassed. What a dick! Then, Vernon turned to the rest of the class.

"Let's get something clear...I control the time here," he said, jabbing a thumb to his chest.

"Excuse me, sir," said Brian bravely. "Time manipulation is a physical impossibility. I wrote a paper on it."

"Watch it, Johnson," Vernon warned, pointing a finger at him. "You're in enough trouble as is."

Brian flinched at the man's tone, staying quiet after that. He was afraid of Vernon. Then Vernon pointed to Claire and the jock named Andy Clark.

"I suggest you both keep your mouths shut. You're in enough trouble as is too...unless you want to spend Saturday in detention too..." Then he motioned to himself. "Because this 'asshole' is getting irritated."

It was in this moment that Sheila began to realize Vernon treated everyone less than him. While she didn't know anyone here at Shermer High, this prick was being completely unnecessary. Sheila felt her comedic mind get to work as she thought of a witty remark to embarrass him.

"I believe they have ointments for that problem, sir," Sheila quipped with a smirk.

"Huh?" Mr. Vernon said confused.

"You know, for your irritated ass," she answered.

The class burst out laughing. Andy was holding in his laughter, his stomach was shaking. Brian bit his lip, snorting. The richie girl named Claire in the front was giggling.

Vernon's cheeks turned red with anger and embarrassment when he realized he was the butt of the red haired miscreant's joke. His steely gaze fixed upon this class clown who thought it was amusing to make a fool out of him. He snapped his fingers and pointed at her.

"You just bought yourself Saturday detention, Donovan," Mr. Vernon said sternly.

He grabbed a detention slip and strode over to Sheila's desk.

"Welcome to Shermer High," he sneered, slamming the detention slip down. "See you Saturday, Sunshine!"

_Fucking dick._


	2. Part 1: Saturday Morning

"...And these children

that you spit on

as they try to change their worlds

are immune to your consultations.

They are quite aware

of what they're going through..."

-David Bowie

**Saturday...March 24th 1984. Shermer High School. Shermer IL, 60062**

_Dear Mr. Vernon, _

_We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a comedian and a criminal. _

_Correct? _

_That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed._


	3. Late

**Saturday, March 24 1984 7:00 am**

Fuck! Here she was on a Saturday. Spending it in detention. Sheila sat in her grandfather's Buick in front of Shermer High School. Joseph stared at his granddaughter sternly.

"I might be hard of hearing, but I was told you had to leave home because of severe allergies..." he began.

Sheila pouted, staring out the car window. _Severe allergies my ass_, Sheila thought bitterly as she heard her grandfather's words. Chris, her stepdad, probably thought of that lame excuse.

"But I did not survive the Great Depression, WWII, the Polio Epidemic, and disco...without developing a good bullshit detector. So what's really going on?"

Sheila just kept staring silently out the window, unable to look at her grandfather.

"I made some mistakes at my last school," she said quietly.

"Such as?"

Sheila shrugged. She didn't want to talk about anything. While Joseph didn't believe the excuse her mother told him, he didn't know the real truth about why she was sent away. She felt abandoned and unwanted. She felt tears pricking her eyes as she remembered that day. Those two words echoed in her mind:

_Her or Me. _

Joseph pinched her arm, making the redhead cry out in pain.

"If it's something you can't tell me, then you deserved that," he replied sternly.

With a sigh, Joseph shook his head in disappointment. His granddaughter was a good kid. Smart. But ever since the divorce and her mother's remarriage, it all went downhill. She was unhappy about the whole situation. He would hear her crying most nights after phone calls with her mother, begging her to come home.

"I promised your parents..." Joseph continued.

"Chris isn't my dad," Sheila interjected bitterly.

"Regardless of how you feel about your stepfather, Sheila," Joseph said. "I would make sure you would get your diploma. So even though I love you...if you leave me with no choice, I will make life difficult for you. Understand?"

Sheila sighed, nodding defeated. She loved her grandpa. She hated to disappoint him.

"Yes, Grandpa," she answered.

"Keep your head down and your nose clean. Because if you screw up, the next stop is Calvin Military Academy."

Sheila frowned a bit. She figured her stepfather had made this suggestion to her grandfather. She did a sarcastic version of a military salute. The old man went to pinch her again, but she evaded him.

"This is not a joke, Sheila," he said with seriousness. "You don't want to go to military school. Believe me. My advice, be mindful of who you make friends with because the people you surround yourself with, they define you."

"Thanks, Gramps," she said half-appreciative.

"Have a nice detention," he said smiling. "Remember, you're a good kid, Sheila. Be good."

Sheila nodded and got out of the car and headed inside to detention, shifting her backpack on her shoulders. As her grandfather was about to pull away, she heard the brakes squeal. She turn to see a surly looking burnout who had walked in front of the car with his hands in the pockets of his ragged trench coat. His dark hair was neck length, his skin was olive, he wore sunglasses, faded tattered black pants and out of shape boots. He had a red bandana tied around his left ankle.

"Watch where you're going, jerk off!" he yelled, banging on the hood of Joseph's Buick. "You could've fuckin' killed me!"

"Fuck you, asshole! _You_ came out of nowhere!" Sheila shouted back.

The burnout lowered his sunglasses and marched aggressively towards her. She was scared at first, but punks like this were nothing but cowards.

"'Scuse me? You want to repeat that?" he said with a dark-eyed glare.

"_You_ stepped in front of the car, dumb ass!" Sheila shot back.

"Well, I got a witness..." he retorted.

He pointed a gloved hand to a disheveled-looking girl who was looking on silently. Her dark hair covered half of her pale face. She wore a huge black overcoat and had a scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Didn't you see them almost hit me?" the burnout said.

The girl's dark eyes widened...then with a frightened squeak, she turned silently and ran towards the school, hugging her bag to her chest.

"Some witness..." Sheila scoffed.

"Fuck you, you ginger Amazon!" the burnout growled.

Sheila was about to respond with a comeback when Joseph honked the horn loudly.

"Get outta here, you snot-nose commie punk!" he shouted.

"Get some glasses, you fuckin' ol geezer!" the burnout shouted back, flipping Joseph the bird aggressively.

The burnout shot Sheila a look and turned his heel to strut inside the school. Sheila decided to wait until the burnout went away before going inside. She counted to ten and then went towards the entrance.

As soon as she was inside the dark school, Sheila looked at her detention slip, reading it over:

**DETENTION SLIP**

NAME: Sheila Donovan

has been assigned detention on

Dates: March 24th 1984 Time: 7:00 AM Place: Library

Reason(s) for Detention: Student sassed Vice Principal Vernon during history class by suggesting to use ointments for his ass

She snickered as she read the reason. This was the dumbest reason to get detention. All for telling off Vernon for picking on her classmates with a joke. It was bullshit!

Detention was being held in the library. She looked around the empty, dark hallways that were littered with trash. Given this was her first day at Shermer High, she had no idea where she was supposed to go. Shit! She was going to be late for detention. God forbid Vernon found out! She didn't think she could deal with that dick any longer, let alone spend a whole Saturday with him.

She wandered the halls for a few minutes, her heart pounding. She saw a janitor hunched over, sweeping up some debris into a garbage can. She approached the man cautiously.

"Um...excuse me," she said.

The janitor looked up with dark eyes. He was tall and thin. His dark hair was balding. He wore a stained blue janitor's shirt with his sleeves rolled up and a work glove on his right hand. He had a bunch of pens in one breast pocket. A large ring of keys were attached to the belt loop of his jeans.

He sized up the redhead with freckles dotting her face in an Army jacket. Then smirked and shook his head, knowing that look on new students.

"You're lost," the janitor stated matter of factly, resting against his broom.

"Um...yes...Carl," she answered, seeing his name tag. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm new here and I'm supposed to have detention in the library with Mr. Vernon."

"You better hurry, sweetheart," Carl said, smiling. "Vernon doesn't like it when anyone is late for detention."

"No shit," she answered wry. Then cleared her throat, "So...could I have directions to the library, please?"

"Sure thing," he said. "Go down this hall, take a right. The library's on the left. Vernon's office is right across. Can't be too hard to miss."

"Thanks, Carl," she said appreciatively.

"Good luck," he said.

Shifting her backpack on her shoulder, she headed towards the library, quietly mouthing the directions Carl gave her. She ran as fast as she could, hoping and praying she would get there on time. Once she arrived at the library, she ran in...

...then skidded to a halt when she locked eyes with Vernon, who had turned around to see her standing there like a deer in headlights. The last one to arrive.

A soft audible "shit!" escaped from her lips.


	4. Detention

Five students entered the massive library at Shermer High. They each took a seat in various places. The princess and jock sat in the front together. The nerd was sitting behind them until the surly criminal gave the blond a death stare as he silently told him to get out of his seat by pointing him to the opposite desks. This forced the nerd to retreat to the opposite desks. Finally, the basket case went all the way to the back row, going around the sculpture for some strange reason, and sat down with her back turned to them. The princess and jock snickered quietly. The nerd looked confused.

Soon, Vernon strode in, holding some papers and pencils in his hand. He looked at the five detainees, taking into account of who had arrived on time. He noticed the sixth one wasn't here yet. He smirked quietly, knowing that the Smart Mouth would embarrass herself once she arrived. That would teach her to humiliate him in class yesterday.

"Well, well..." he began. "Here we are. I want to congratulate you all for being on time."

Claire raised her leather gloved hand. She hoped she could talk her way out of detention.

"Excuse me, sir," Claire said. "I think there's been a mistake. I know it's detention, but, um...I don't think I belong here."

Mr. Vernon ignored the princess and looked at his watch.

"It is now...7:06," he announced. "You have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about why you're here. To ponder the error of your ways."

Brian looked at his watch to confirm the time. Claire and Andrew looked at each other incredulously. The burnout hawked a loogie and spit it in the air, then caught it in his mouth. Claire gasped in disgust when she saw the delinquent do this.

It was at that moment, there was the sound of running footsteps from outside the library. The vice principal smirked and could only guess who the tardy one was. He turned to see the smart mouthed comedian who dared to make a fool out of him yesterday. She was out of breath and standing like a deer in headlights; her green eyes met his steely grays.

"Well, well...if it isn't Miss Comedian," Vernon sneered. "Up late working on new material, Donovan?"

Sheila's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Shit! Detention had already started and she was the last one to arrive. Christ! Could this day get any worse?!

Andrew and Claire bit their lips as they gazed upon their tardy, mortified classmate. Brian had a sympathetic expression. The burnout glared. The girl in the back just stared in the opposite direction.

Despite the overwhelming embarrassment due to her tardy arrival and being shamed by Vernon, Sheila decided to turn it around in a comedic way. She shrugged with a sheepish expression.

"Aw shucks, Mr. Voynen!" Sheila drawled, imitating Curley the Stooge. Then in her normal sarcastic voice, "If I had directions to where detention was being held, I wouldn't have been late."

Brian bit his lip, chuckling quietly at Sheila's impression. That earned a dirty look from vernon which made his smile quickly fade away and he coughed to cover up his laugh, not wanting to get in more trouble. Andrew snorted. The burnout made a mild smirk. Claire held in her laughter politely. The Basket Case turned and even cracked a smile. Vernon was unimpressed by the act. He checked his watch.

"Drop the comedy act, Donovan. You're seven minutes late," he said sourly. "You can make it up at the end of detention. Now take a seat."

Sheila scoffed. This was fucking bullshit! She was seven minutes late because she couldn't find the fucking library. Now she had to stay seven minutes longer than everyone else. It wasn't fair!

She looked at her classmates that were in detention, trying to decide who to sit with. She decided to sit with Brian as she was pretty comfortable with him so far. The geek smiled and gave her an encouraging nod. Sheila shrugged off her backpack and sat down.

"Now as I was saying...before Miss Comedian here graced us with her tardy presence," Vernon recommenced.

Sheila scoffed, then made a face, mocking Vernon. God! What was his problem? It was bad enough she was late, now this pretentious dick had to add further humiliation for being so.

"You will not talk..." he said, pointing to Claire.

Brian was about to get up to move closer to Sheila.

"You will not move..." Vernon continued, making the nerd freeze. "...from these seats."

Brian slid back over to where he was sitting with a defeated look. The man strolled over towards the burnout's desk with a stern look.

"And_ you_..." he said sternly, pulling the chair out from under the burnout's feet that were propped up. "...will not sleep."

After a beat, the vice principal looked at each of the detainees.

"Alright, people, we're going to try something a little different today," Vernon announced. "We are going to write an essay...of no less than a thousand words, describing to me, who you think you are..."

He strolled by and placed a piece of paper and a pencil in front of each of them.

UGH! Sheila thought. Writing an essay of no less than a thousand words?! This sounded insanely boring. She rolled her eyes, resting her chin on her fist.

"Is this a test?" the burnout asked, propping his feet on the desk.

"And when I say essay, I _mean_ essay," Vernon answered, emphatically. "I don't mean writing a single word repeated a thousand times..." Then the man glanced towards the back of the room. "Is that clear, Mr. Bender?"

"Crystal," came the apathetic response of the burnout named Bender.

"Good. Maybe you'll learn a little something about yourselves. Maybe you'll even decide whether or not you care to return," Vernon continued.

Brian raised his hand and stood up bravely.

"Uh...y'know, I can answer that right now, sir," he dithered. "That'd be a no. _No_ for me because..."

"Sit down, Johnson," Vernon interjected with a zero fucks given attitude.

"Thank you, sir," said Brian quietly.

"My office is right across the hall," Vernon said, pointing to the office outside the library. "Any monkey business is ill-advised. Any questions?"

Everyone stayed silent. Andrew and Brian shook their heads no. Tempting as it was to make Vernon look like a fool again, Sheila resisted the urge to crack a joke. She was embarrassed enough for being late, then Vernon had to add further humiliation by shaming her and adding an extra seven minutes to her detention.

"Yea, I got a question," said Bender. "Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"

The detainees held in their laughter. Mr. Vernon wasn't amused by this joke.

"I'll give you the answer to that question, Mr. Bender, next Saturday," Mr. Vernon replied sternly.

Sheila glanced at Bender; judging by the apathetic expression on his face, it seemed that he was sent to detention a lot, but didn't give a shit.

"Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns," Mr. Vernon said.

_God. What a pretentious dick! _Sheila thought, rolling her eyes.

Mr. Vernon turned to Sheila. "And you..." he hissed, pointing a finger. "If you really think that you're gonna get away with the same crap you pulled at your last school, you would be _sorely_ mistaken."

Sheila's mouth dropped open slightly. Her freckled cheeks reddened with embarrassment as the man revealed some of her personal information. Andrew and Claire stared at the new girl with a curious look as of what exactly she had done to piss him off. Sure, they remembered the whole 'ointment' joke she told him, but this was really unusual.

Vernon eventually turned on his heel and left to go to his office across the hall.

"Asshole," Sheila scoffed.

Brian glanced over at Sheila who looked embarrassed and angry that she had been shamed by Vernon for being late and he revealed some of her personal information from her last school. He wondered what happened at her last school that Vernon would say that.

"It's the shits, huh?" said Brian.

"Yeah. It could probably be a bit more awesome," Sheila said dry.

Bender sized up the new girl with a withering look. His legs were crossed and up on the opposite desk. He had listened to what Dick said and how he treated the new girl. He was intrigued by what she had done to piss him off.

"So...what'd you do to become the apple of Dick's eye?" Bender asked. "Did you secretly piss in his oatmeal or something?"

"I like oatmeal," Brian piped up.

"Just got in some trouble," Sheila said with a nonchalant shrug. "One thing's for sure, Vernon is definitely not a fan of my stand up comedy."

Bender sat up and leaned forward, intrigued. "Oh yea? What'd you do?"

"You don't have to answer," said Claire, glancing at Sheila.

"No, I wanna know what she did that got Vernon's panties in such a bunch," Bender insisted.

"Vernon wears panties?" Brian said confused.

Bender glared at Brian who was just interrupting with no substance to the conversation.

"Hey, dork, who invited _you_ into the conversation?" Bender sneered.

Brian sank into his chair shutting up after that little outburst from Bender. Andrew turned around and glared at Bender, getting annoyed by his persistence.

"Leave her alone, Bender," Andrew shot back. "She just got here."

"Oh? Are you in love?" Bender teased. "Or are you just looking for anyone with a pulse so you can finally lose your virginity?"

The jock shook his head in frustration. "Really," he muttered. "Buttface."

"Well, hey, Sporto, what'd you do to get in here?" Bender asked. "Forget to wash your jock?"

The jock just ignored him. Bender's attention went back to Sheila.

"Well, Teacher's Pet...we're waiting..." said Bender. "Do tell us what you did to get Dick all bent out of shape."

"Why don't you just shut up?" Claire said. Then turned to Sheila. "Just ignore him."

"Sweets," said Bender with a grin. "You couldn't ignore me if you tried."

"Doesn't that mean she can ignore you if she doesn't try?" Sheila quipped with a shrug.

Bender looked confused; he tried to work the logic of what the Teacher's Pet had said, staring dumbly. Claire and Andrew sniggered.

"Oh gee! Sorry, Bender. I didn't mean to make your brain bleed," Sheila remarked wittily.

"Whatever," he scoffed.


	5. Churlishness and Clubs

Soon everything went quiet. The disheveled girl in the back bit her fingernails loudly. The five other detainees glanced towards the back as they listened to the loud clicking, staring incredulously. The dark haired girl just stared back as if to silently say 'what'? Then resumed biting her fingernail.

"You keep that up," Bender said. "You're not gonna be hungry for lunch."

With a defiant look, the mystery girl just spit her fingernail at him. Bender seemed unbothered by this. The rest were disgusted. Sheila wasn't sure what to think of this girl. She was kind of weird...and yet, Bender was an annoying asshole.

"I've seen you before," Bender said.

There was a creak of a chair from across the hall. The head of the vice principal glanced at the six detainees in the library. After a few seconds, Vernon disappeared from view. Sheila turned back around, wrapping her finger around a lock of hair. Honestly, she wasn't going to write this stupid essay. She glanced over at Brian who was quietly mumbling "who are you" a few times, then took a pen and hung it on his lip.

"I'm a walrus," he murmured.

Sheila bit her lip as she watched Brian, holding back a laugh. He looked so silly. Bender watched the geek make a fool out of himself with a dumbfounded look. Brian laughed, slightly embarrassed and took the pen out of his nose and off his lip. He made a shrug and was about to take off his jacket, then noticed Bender was doing the same. Feeling uncomfortable by his staring, Brian put his jacket back on and pretended to warm his hands up like he was cold.

After a few moments, Bender threw a paper wad at Claire and Andrew—who ignored him. He then made some bored humming notes, playing air guitar.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," Claire whined, glancing at Andrew.

"Oh shit!" Bender exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do if we have to take a piss?"

Claire and Andrew rolled their eyes when they heard Bender behind them. They were really wishing they were sitting somewhere else other than in front of this moron.

"Oh please..." Claire groaned in annoyance.

The burnout shrugged and started to unzip his pants. "Oh well! When you gotta go, you gotta go."

Sheila and Claire made disgusted faces, unable to believe that Bender would use the library as his own personal toilet. Andrew turned around.

"Hey, you're not urinating in here, man!" Andrew said.

"Don't talk! Don't talk!" Bender exclaimed. "It makes it crawl back up."

"You whip it out and you're dead before the first drop hits the floor," Andrew threatened.

"You're pretty sexy when you get angry," Bender teased with a growl.

When Andrew faced the front, Bender turned his attention to Brian.

"Hey, homeboy, why don't you close that door...we'll get the girls impregnated," the delinquent said. Then he pointed at Claire, "I'll take the prom queen."

Claire whipped her head around with a wide eyed expression of shock and anger. Andrew turned around and glared at Bender. The criminal ignored the populars glares and looked over at Sheila, sizing her up, before glancing back at Brian who was staring in confusion at Bender.

"You can have at it with the Teacher's Pet, Dweeb," Bender continued. "She's got some great childbearing hips for your skinny children."

Brian stared in absolute shock at hearing this suggestion by the burnout. Blinking his eyes a few times, he looked over at Sheila, who had an equally shocked expression. He had to admit that Sheila was pretty cute, but he had just met her. They didn't even know each other. Plus he didn't think Sheila would be interested in someone like him. He was a nerd. Sheila was...well, he wasn't sure what kind of person she was. She didn't seem interested in being with the popular crowd. One thing he knew for sure was she liked making a fool out of Mr. Vernon (like Bender but maybe not so much borderline criminal behavior).

Sheila let out a scoff, shaking her head at this idea.

"Oh well, thank YOU for finding me a perfect match, matchmaker," Sheila quipped sarcastically, using a line from the play _Fiddler on the Roof_. "But please stay out of my childbearing hips' and mind your own dick."

Andrew, Claire and Brian sniggered at Sheila's witty remark. Bender didn't seemed bothered by her barbs, but was liking the challenge already.

"It's pretty impressive. Wanna peek, Teacher's Pet?" Bender said with a salacious smirk.

Claire made a disgusted face as she heard them talking about sex. Despite her being popular, the very idea of having sex disgusted her. Especially if it was with Bender.

"Oh yea! I'm _sure_ it is!" Sheila jabbed snidely with an eye roll.

"Last chance," Bender offered.

"Yea...I don't think anyone wants to see your twig and dingle berries," Sheila shot back. "...which I suggest you double bag it since nobody knows where _that_ has been."

"What's 'double bagging it'?" asked Brian.

"It's when you have to put a rubber on twice, dork," Bender answered. Then smirked at Sheila, "Sure, it's got a few miles on it, but I think you might enjoy it."

"A rubber?" Brian asked.

Sheila scoffed, shaking her head. This pervert was annoying as fuck. Andrew turned around, getting fed up by Bender's sexual comments towards the girls.

"Hey!" Andrew yelled, glaring at Bender. "HEY!"

"What?" Bender asked innocently.

"If I lose my temper, you're totaled, man."

"Totally?" Bender said with mock surprise.

"Totally!" Andrew responded with seriousness, leaning forward.

"Would you just shut up? Nobody here is interested," Claire snapped.

"Uh, excuse me fellas," Brian interjected, wanting the group to stay focused. "Maybe we should just write our papers."

"Look, just because you live in here doesn't give you the right to be a pain in the ass," said the jock irritated. "So KNOCK IT OFF!"

"It's a free country," the criminal said smugly.

Andrew turned around, flustered by Bender's endless taunting. He straightened up, jutting his jaw out and clenched his fist. He was so close to beating the shit out of the criminal.

"He's just doing it to get a rise out of you. Ignore him," Claire said.

Bender relaxed a bit and leaned forward towards Andrew and Claire. He decided to amuse himself by pushing everyone's buttons.

"So..." he began. "So! Are you two like boyfriend/girlfriend?"

The two of them ignored him, looking down at their desks.

"Steady dates?" he teased.

They still didn't answer him.

"_Lo-vers_?"

Still not getting any response from the two of them. Bender smirked and decided to push their limits.

"C'mon, Sporto, level with me," Bender taunted. "Did you slip her the hot beef...injection?"

The two popular kids turned around and yelled together angrily at the criminal, who had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"**GO TO HELL!**"

"**ENOUGH!**"

"Hey! What's going on in there?!" Vernon yelled back.

After hearing a long silence from the library, the man shook his head and went back to reading his newspaper.

"Spoiled little pricks," he muttered.

"Scumbag," Andrew muttered, shaking his head.

The delinquent stood up, checking to make sure Vernon wasn't looking. He was looking at the door, coming up with a plan so they could have more privacy. He figured it'd be better this way.

"What do you say we close that door?" Bender said, hopping on the banister to sit.

"The door's supposed to stay open," Brian responded.

"So what?" Bender said nonchalant.

"So why don't you just shut up?" Andrew said irritated. "There's five other people in here, you know?"

"Great, you can count," Bender said derisively. "I knew you had to be smart to be a...uh...a wrestler."

"You know, Bender, you don't even count," the athlete said harshly. "If you disappeared forever, it wouldn't make a difference. You may as well not even exist at this school."

Sheila was shocked by this comment. Sure, Bender was an asshole, that was true. But this was just cold. The disheveled girl looked up, taking an interest in the conversation for the first time.

"Little harsh, don't you think, Andy?" Sheila said with a frown.

"Yea, and so what, Funny Girl?" Andrew said uncaring.

Bender took a second to absorb the hit, carefully considering a response. Sheila could tell he was wounded, but pushed away his hurt feelings.

"Well...I'll just run right out and join the wrestling team," Bender replied sarcastically. "Maybe the prep club too."

The Jock and the Princess just laughed derisively.

"Nah. They wouldn't take you," said Andrew, shaking his head.

"I'm in the Math club," Brian added almost quietly.

Sheila glanced at Brian with an arched eyebrow. What was he doing? It seemed he was attempting to join the conversation, but was doing a pretty poor job at doing so.

"You know why guys like you knock everything?" said Claire. "It's because you're afraid they won't take you."

"I'm in the Latin club..." Brian continued to add. Sheila watched as Brian was failing miserably at joining the conversation with the cool kids.

"Well, it wouldn't have anything to do with you activities people..." Bender retorted. "...being assholes now, would it?"

"Well, you wouldn't know. You don't know any of us," said Claire.

"Well, I don't know any lepers either," Bender replied. "But I'm not gonna run out and join any one of their fuckin' clubs."

"How 'bout the detention club?" Sheila suggested jokingly. "You can be president, Bender."

Bender made a sarcastic laugh. "Very clever, Teacher's Pet," he said.

"I'm in the Physics Club too," Brian added.

Bender turned his attention to Brian after hearing him mumbling random things about clubs he was in.

"Scuse me a sec..." Bender said. "What're you babbling about?"

"W-what I said was...I'm in the Math Club...uh, the Latin Club, and the, uh, Physics Club..." Brian repeated with a stammer, counting his fingers.

"Hey...Cherry, Do YOU belong to the Physics club?" asked Bender, looking at Claire.

"That's an academic club. Those aren't the same as any other club," Claire said rolling her eyes.

"Ah. But to dorks like him, they are..." Bender said. Then turned his attention to Sheila. "How about you, Teacher's Pet? Do YOU belong to any clubs?"

"Me?" Sheila said. "Clubs aren't really my thing. I do make an exception if they play rad tunes and serve stiff drinks."

Bender seemed mildly impressed by the Teacher's Pet. Andrew glanced over at Vernon's office, knowing they weren't supposed to be talking.

"Look, you guys, you keep talking and Vernon's gonna come in here," said Andrew. "I got a meet this Saturday. And I'm not gonna miss it on account of you boneheads."

"And wouldn't that be a bite. Missin' a whole wrestlin' meet," Bender mocked, grunting like he was wrestling.

"You wouldn't know anything about it, asshole!" Andrew said, his temper flaring. "You never competed your whole life."

"Oh, I know! I feel all empty inside!" Bender sobbed mockingly. "I have such a deep admiration for guys who roll around on the floor with other guys."

"Ah. You'd never miss it. You don't have any goals," Andrew shot back.

"Oh but I do...I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need is a lobotomy and some tights."

"You wear tights?" Sheila asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

"No. I don't wear tights. I wear the required uniform," Andrew replied defensive.

"Tights," Brian said matter-of-fact.

"Shut up!" Andrew said turning away with embarrassment.


	6. Monkey Business

Just then, Mr. Vernon came into their line of sight. Bender got up quickly from the banister and sat between Claire and Andrew, putting on a fake angelic act. Vernon didn't even look at them. He started to walk out of his office and headed down the hallway. Bender slowly rose up, heaving a sigh of relief.

"What do you say we close the door?" Bender said again. "We can't have any kind of party with Vernon checkin' us out every few seconds."

"Shouldn't we be working on our essay?" Brian said nervously.

Bender ignored Brian's words and looked at each of the detainees. It was pretty clear they weren't going to participate in Bender's act of rebellion. His dark eyes went to the new girl, knowing she'd be easy to influence.

"How 'bout it, Teacher's Pet?" he asked. "You gonna help me close the door or what?"

Sheila shrugged, feeling her rebellious side coming out, hopped up from her seat.

"Sure," Sheila said smiling. "Honestly, I'd like to see LESS of Vernon."

"Alright! Let's go!" Bender said pleased.

Hopping up out of his seat with Sheila in tow, the two of them went towards the front door. Brian looked nervously at the two of them as they headed to the door. Claire stared in disbelief with Andrew, unable to believe that the new girl would even think of siding with Bender on this.

"There's not supposed to be any monkey business," Brian dithered.

Sheila turned to face the other detainees, making a serious face like the vice principal.

"Young man, have you finished your paper?" she said, imitating Vernon's voice, pointing a finger.

Bender sniggered. Andrew and Brian couldn't help but chuckle at the Comedian's imitation of Vernon. Claire giggled, covering her mouth. The disheveled girl even cracked a smile.

"Keep a look out for Dick while I get this door closed, Teacher's Pet," Bender instructed.

"Is that really Vernon's name?" Sheila asked half-joking. "Or is it his personality?"

Another laugh came from the criminal.

"If the shoe fits..." Bender answered.

"Seriously, is that his name?"

"My dear, sweet Teacher's Pet," Bender said with false sympathy. "You have yet to get to know the vice principal of No Shit Shermer, Richard "Dick" Vernon."

"Yea. No thanks. I think having to deal with him for one whole Saturday is enough," Sheila answered wry.

"Oh Teacher's Pet," Bender said shaking his head. "You're gonna be stuck in this hellhole with him 'til you graduate."

"Let's hope graduation gets here fast then."

While Bender unscrewed the bolt on top of the hinge, Sheila kept watch for any signs of Vernon down the hallways. She listened for his striding footsteps.

"Come on, guys," said Andrew exasperated. "Don't screw around."

"What are you gonna do?" Claire asked.

"Drop dead, I hope," Andrew said.

She heard some kind of indistinct shout that echoed down the hall. Her heart leaped and started beating rapidly like she had run a 100 meter dash.

"Dude! Hurry up!" Sheila said hastily.

"I'm workin' on it, Teacher's Pet!" Bender answered irritated. "This damn screw is tight!"

"Bender, that's...that's school property there," Brian stammered. "A-and it doesn't belong to us. It's not something to be toyed with."

The quiet girl looked up from her drawing to see what was going on. Just then, the screw came out and the door was starting to close and it slammed shut as Bender and Sheila returned to their seats with quickness in their step. Bender tucked the screw into his pocket.

"That's very funny," Andrew said. "Now fix it."

"You should really fix that," Brian agreed.

"Aren't I a genius?" Bender said pleased with himself.

"No, you're an asshole!" Andrew said, his voice rising.

"What a funny guy!" Bender laughed derisively.

Andrew and Bender began arguing over the door situation. There was the occasional "shut up" or "fix it" from the two boys while Brian argued timidly to fix the door.

Meanwhile, outside the library, Mr. Vernon strode back down the hall to his office snapping his fingers. He heard shouts inside the library and glanced over to the library, noticing the door was closed.

"GODDAMMIT!" he shouted exasperated.

He knew those spoiled little pricks had something to do with it. He sure as hell was going to find out who was responsible. He flung the door open, storming over towards the six detainees, glaring angrily at them.

"Why is that door closed?!" he demanded, jabbing a thumb at the door.

The six detainees sat silently, hands folded and eyes down as if they were hiding something. The detainees knew it was best to keep their mouth shut. But they each hoped neither would be a rat.

"WHY IS THAT DOOR CLOSED?!" Vernon shouted.

"How are we supposed to know? We're not supposed to move," Sheila answered.

"WHY?!" Vernon shouted.

Claire flinched. "We were just sitting here," she said. "Like we're supposed to."

Vernon glared at Brian, Sheila and the disheveled girl.

"Who closed that door?!" he demanded.

Brian's blue eyes went wide with fear and his mouth dropped open as if he were about to speak. The color in his face drained. Sheila looked over at Brian, hoping and praying that he wouldn't talk. She remained calm despite the fact that her heart was pounding loudly in her ears.

"I think a screw fell out," Bender answered innocently.

"It just closed, sir," Andrew confirmed.

Vernon turned to the quiet girl. He demanded her to know who did this. She squeaked with fear, slamming her head on the desk. Christ! This dick was such a bully.

"She doesn't talk, sir," Bender said.

Vernon turned to Bender and held out his hand. He was very certain he had something to do with the door closing, given his obvious misbehavior at Shermer.

"Give me that screw!" he ordered gruffly.

"I don't have it!" Bender asserted.

"Y'want me to yank you outta that seat and shake it outta you?" Vernon threatened.

Sheila had no doubt in mind that Mr. Vernon would do such a thing. She had never seen him so angry. It scared her a bit.

"I don't have it," Bender insisted. "Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place."

"Where's the screw, Donovan?" Vernon demanded, turning to Sheila. He was very certain she had a part in this.

"Maybe the screw was old and rusty," the Smart Mouth said with a shrug.

Vernon walked to the door, trying to figure out how to prop it open. He spied a folding chair and brought it outside. He propped it open with his foot while he set up the chair in front of the door.

"The door's way too heavy, sir," Bender said.

When he straightened the chair out in front of the door...it slammed on the chair, sending it down the hall with a loud clatter.

"Dammit! You son of a bee!" Vernon cursed loudly in the hallway.

The six of them stifled their laughter as the vice principal made a complete fool of himself. Vernon came back in. He looked around for a way to keep the door open, then at the detainees.

"Andrew Clark!" Mr. Vernon called, snapping his fingers impatiently. "Get up here! C'mon, front and center, let's go!"

Andrew let out a sigh and reluctantly got up. Mr. Vernon instructed Andrew to pick up a magazine rack to prop open the door.

"Hey! How come _Andrew_ gets to get up?" Bender complained. "If he gets up, we'll _ALL_ get up! It'll be anarchy!"

Nobody seemed to be paying attention to Bender. Andrew helped finish propping the door open with Vernon. Next, the athlete tried to climb over the magazine rack to get back inside. Given the door was completely blocked, he slipped and got stuck in the door frame. Sheila and Claire held in their laughter.

"That's very clever, sir, but what if there's a fire?" said Bender. "I think violating fire codes is pretty serious."

"Who would be in charge of conducting safety inspection?" asked Sheila with feigned curiosity.

"I am," Mr. Vernon said.

"I hate to say it, sir," Sheila said. "But I don't think the board of education would like it if they knew a staff member was violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children."

"I agree with Donovan, sir," Bender added. "I think it would be unwise at this juncture in your career."

Vernon looked less than pleased with the situation. He glared at Andrew like it was his idea.

"Alright, what are you doing with this?" he snapped. "What...get this out of here for God's sake! Let's go!"

Andrew struggled to move the magazine rack with Vernon out of the doorway, putting it back where it originally was.

"Y'know the school comes equipped with fire exits at either end of the library," Brian said, pointing to the back of the library.

"Show Dick some respect!" Bender shot back with a glare.

Vernon shooed Andrew back to his seat, giving him a light shove. The jock sat down in his seat. The man frowned at Andrew.

"I expected a little more out of a varsity letterman," Vernon scolded harshly.

Andrew looked down at his desk, his cheeks flushed with anger. Like this was HIS fault for what he did. He slipped Vernon the finger stealthy.

"All right! That's it!" Vernon said. "I'm gonna be right outside those doors. Next time I come in here, I'm cracking skulls."

"Isn't that considered murder, sir?" Sheila asked.

"Watch your tongue, Donovan," Vernon warned, pointing to her.

"Oddly, I can, sir," Sheila quipped. "But it would make it harder for me to talk though."

The detainees sniggered at this joke. Vernon glared; her smart mouthed quips were starting to irritate him. He recalled a few details from the red haired miscreant's file, Vernon decided to use a few low blows to get through to her.

"You know, I would have expected someone with your family background to have more respect," he said. "Perhaps a little phone call to your stepfather would straighten you out?"

Sheila's smirking face fell, turning white with horror. How the hell did he know about her family? She felt a lump forming in her throat and her stomach sank upon hearing the man's words. Everyone looked at Sheila with bewilderment and curiosity. What did Vernon know about her family? Sheila could feel herself shrinking in her seat as she felt all eyes on her when Vernon spoke.

"Yea. Didn't think so, Donovan," Vernon remarked. Then pointed a finger at her, "One more impertinent reply out of you...and I'll be setting up a meeting with him to discuss your future here. Got it?"

Swallowing, she nodded her head silently, looking very uncomfortable. She had to use every ounce of her willpower to keep her comedy mask from slipping off. She inhaled sharply, trying to push back her tears.

"Good," he said pleased.

Vernon turned on his heel and went outside, slamming the door behind him.

God! What a dick!

Everyone stared at Sheila after witnessing the event that occurred. Bender decided to speak up first.

"What the _hell_ was that all about?!" Bender exclaimed. "Is Dick buddies with your stepdaddy or something?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sheila said uncomfortable, hugging herself.

Brian gave a sympathetic look at the redhead who was hugging herself. "Hey. Are you OK?" he asked.

Sheila nodded lightly. "I'm a big girl. I can shake it off," she assured.

"Jesus, what an asshole! That was pretty shitty of Vernon," Andrew said, shaking his head.

"_You're_ surprised Dick is already an asshole, Sporto?" Bender said.

"Dude, he's never stooped _that_ low to single out a student," Andrew argued.

"You'd be surprised. He does it to me all the time."

"Well, _you're_ a special case, Bender. That doesn't count."

"Oh right...like how I could disappear forever and it wouldn't matter!" Bender said with a frown, recalling the athlete's hurtful words.

"Just SHUT UP!" Claire snapped. Then turned her attention to Sheila, "So, what's this about your stepfather?"

"It's nothing," Sheila said. "I don't want to talk about him. Let's just say he's a ten times worse version of Vernon and leave it at that."


	7. Firsties

**7:45 am**

The minutes seemed to go slower and slower. The six detainees were bored sitting in detention. Sheila looked at her fellow classmates, watching them try to entertain themselves.

Bender took out a cigarette. Then he lit his shoe on fire and used it to light his cigarette. Claire was daydreaming with a vapid smile on her face. Andrew pulled on the strings of his hoodie, watching it go back and forth. In the back, the disheveled girl pulled a string off her sweatshirt and started wrapping it around her finger until it turned purple.

Sheila rested her head on her fist, glancing over at Brian who was leaning forward and wriggling in his chair. She saw his hand was under the desk...oh God! He was adjusting his balls. When Brian saw her staring at him, he blushed and grabbed his knit hat and put it under the desk, pretending to stare elsewhere. Sheila shook her head with a smile.

Bender was playing air guitar, a cigarette hanging lazily out of his mouth. Andrew took his paper, folded it into a paper football, then flicked it across the room, cheering and booing as if he were at a game.

The quiet girl in the back was drawing a picture with a pen, then scratched her scalp, looking down at her drawing with a satisfied smile. Sheila wondered what she was drawing. She rose up out of her seat to see it. It looked like a snowy drawing of a bridge in the middle of a wilderness. The disheveled girl stared at her. Sheila gave a look of approval regarding the dark haired girl's drawing. She made no response. Sheila shrugged and sat back down.

Sheila leaned back in her seat, stared at the ceiling with an open mouth, letting her shoulder length hair fall back. Then she grabbed her hair in a ponytail and twisted and put it over her right shoulder. Then started flicking her fingers against her cheeks, making clock sounds, moving her eyes back and forth like a pendulum.

Sighing in boredom, she took the blank sheet of paper she was supposed to write her essay on and drew a caricature of Vernon as an angry donkey with a huge ass. She made a word bubble that said "Kiss My ASS!" She had to stifle her laughter as she looked over at her work.

Brian looked over at the drawing and let out a snicker. Sheila flicked her long hair out of her face, hearing the geek next to her.

"That's pretty good," he said giggling.

"I better hide this," Sheila said giggling. "Dick would probably shit kittens if he saw this."

"Vernon poops kittens?" Brian asked, tilting his head.

Sheila arched an eyebrow, then shook her head. This boy was obviously naive, but she had to admit it was adorkable.

"I was speaking figuratively," she said.

"Oh, you mean a metaphor!" Brian said, now understanding.

Sheila nodded, flicking the annoying strand of hair out of her eye.

"So...how many times have you been to detention?" she asked.

"It's my first time," Brian said.

"You'll always remember your first time," Sheila said smiling. "I remember mine. Seventh grade. Chuck Dinklage was picking on this poor kid in class so I told him to 'bite me'."

The geek listened with interest. He had to admit that hearing her stand up to bullies was pretty cool. He had a fair share encounter with them: wedgies, wet willies, noogies, being tripped, KICK ME signs stuck on his back, having his shorts pulled down at gym class, books knocked off his desk, gum in his hair, being stuffed in lockers until Carl the janitor had to come get him out...even the times he had been thrown into the girls' room with the door held shut.

"So...he bit you?" Brian asked incredulously.

A laugh came from the redhead.

"No. I think he would've though," she said. "My timing was off. The teacher walked in when I said it, but she didn't see the whole thing with Chuck. She was pretty pissed about it. I ended up getting detention and Chuck got away with it."

"That sucks," Brian said with a frown.

"Yea. Well, I've had some practice on the timing of my quips so I don't get caught," Sheila said. "My grandpa says my smart mouth is the reason I get in trouble."

"My grandpa never says that about me," Brian said.

"Oh yea? Are you close to your grandpa? I am."

Before he could answer, Bender made a loud yawn, getting everyone's attention. Claire and Andrew shook their head in annoyance. They were starting to resent being seated near this delinquent.

"I'm bored," Bender said loudly.

"You should be used to it by now since you live here," Andrew remarked.

"Maybe we could play a game?" Sheila suggested with a shrug.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Andrew said exasperated.

"No, no, Sporto," said Bender. "This might be interesting."

"What kind of game?" Brian asked, given he was very fond of them. "Checkers? Chess?"

"Let's make it interesting..." Bender said, getting to his feet. "How 'bout Seven Minutes in Heaven?"

Sheila scoffed. Claire and Andrew rolled their eyes at this suggestion too. The girl in the back became more interested in the conversation going on.

"Yea...I think we should play something that doesn't involve spreading sexual tension and awkwardness," Sheila deadpanned.

"You got any better ideas, Teacher's Pet?" he challenged.

Truth be told, Sheila had nothing in mind. Bender looked at the redhead. Given she was the new girl, he wanted to push her buttons. Find out who she really was. Granted, she helped him close the door with very little resistance and went along with his lie about closing the door, yet he found her barbs to be amusing and her challenges to be engaging.

"Scrabble?" Brian suggested, but it seemed nobody was listening to him.

"What's the matter, Teacher's Pet? You afraid?" Bender said, stepping up to her desk.

"No! I'm not," Sheila retorted, getting to her feet and crossing her arms.

"So Seven Minutes in Heaven should be no problem with you...unless you've never kissed anyone," he said, studying her response.

A derisive snort came from the redhead. "Yes. I have!" Sheila shot back.

A grin spread across the criminal's face. Everyone was looking at the two of them.

"Ah! Looks like Teacher's Pet has a little history. How very interesting," he said slyly.

"And so what if I've kissed someone? Why is that such a big deal?" Sheila said.

"Prove it then," Bender challenged. "Prove to all of us that you're not as much of a Teacher's Pet."

"You don't have to, Sheila," Andrew said.

Sensing all eyes on her and the peer pressure mounting, she stared at the dark eyed delinquent that stood before her. With a determined look on her face, she decided to up the ante.

"Open or closed?" she said.

"Huh?" Bender asked confused.

"Here we go..." Andrew sighed exasperated.

Everyone had a feeling the two of them were going to be here trying to one-up another in detention all day.

"So...we're not playing a board game?" Brian asked, still being ignored.

"You said I should prove that I kissed someone," Sheila said pointedly. "So do YOU want to see an open or closed mouthed kiss?"

Bender grinned in absolute delight. He was loving every minute of the redhead challenging him.

"You sure love to drive a hard bargain, Teacher's Pet," Bender said. "Let's make it interesting: an open mouthed kiss. Anyone here of your choice."

"Alright. You're on, Bender," the redhead said.

Sheila glanced at the detainees, trying to decide who would be the safest choice. She was definitely not going to pick Bender. Lord knows he probably wouldn't stop bragging about it all day long. Andrew was a possibility. But then again, he didn't like the whole idea anyway and she wasn't sure if he had a girlfriend already, being a jock.

"Tick tock, Teacher's Pet," Bender quipped, pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Don't be a cock block."

"Would you knock it off?" Andrew said irritated. "Don't pressure her! It's hard enough to pick since she doesn't know anyone here."

She looked at Brian, deciding he would be a safe choice. She flipped her hair, wetting her lips just enough to smooth them out. Planting herself in a chair, she cupped his face in her hands, then leaned over and planted a sensual kiss on his lips.

Trying to process what was happening, Brian went completely red, squirming in his chair and his eyes bugged out of his face. Never in his life would he imagined a girl would kiss him!

Everyone stared in complete shock as the redhead kissed the nerd. Bender was shocked too, then he grinned in absolute delight.

Sheila held the kiss for a couple of seconds; she teased Brian's lips sensually with parted lips, sticking with some basic moves so she wouldn't make him too uncomfortable. Then she pulled away with a sharp exhale; her freckled cheeks matched her hair.

"Voilà!" she said in a French accent.

Brian touched his lips in complete shock and surprise, feeling the redhead's kiss still lingering.

"W-Wow!" he stammered with a dazed expression. "What a woman!"

"Looks like you gave Johnson his first kiss," Andrew commented, seeing the geek's blushing face.

Bender had to admit the girl had game. She sure proved him wrong.

"I'd say you got game, Teacher's Pet," Bender said. "That was pretty saucy."

"Thank you," Sheila said with a quip. "So...are we going to play the game?"

"Forget the game," Bender said. "Seeing you send Dweeb to heaven for five seconds was entertainment enough."

Sheila huffed and sat back down at her desk. Typical Bender who wanted free entertainment to amuse himself. Brian shifted in his chair, tugging his collar a bit while trying to calm the overwhelming redness in his face.

"Where'd you learn to kiss like that?" Claire asked.

"Band camp," Sheila answered.

"Band camp?!" Bender inquired. "YOU went to band camp?"

"Yes. Is it THAT surprising that I have a past, Bender?" Sheila shot back.

"So is band camp some kind of code for sex camp?"

"NO, dumb ass! It's an ACTUAL camp where you play music!"

"What's it like being at band camp?" Brian asked.

"It's...fine and all," Sheila said with a shrug. "We played mostly classical music."

"BOO!" Bender exclaimed, giving a thumbs down gesture.

"I listen to classical music sometimes," Brian chimed up. "What did you play?"

"Clarinet."

"Aren't you lucky, dweeb!" Bender quipped. "Y'know what they say about clarinet players."

The delinquent proceeded to make an obscene gesture by poking his tongue in his cheek while jerking his wrist, which confused the nerd. Sheila rolled her eyes. She was getting fed up with this asshole's lasciviousness.

"Would you KNOCK IT OFF with the never ending sexual innuendos, Bender?" Sheila said annoyed.

"I agree. It's getting really old," Andrew said irritated.

"Well, I want to hear more about Miss Band Geek's whole experience at band camp," Bender said, clapping his hands. "It should be...delightful!"

"Don't be fooled, Bender," Sheila said. "Not all bandies are sexually charged or socially inept. Some of them can get pretty nasty. Especially firsties."

"Firsties?" he questioned with a dumb look.

"Yea. First instrument players," she explained. "There's three types of bandies: firsties, seconds, and thirds. The firsties are usually ultra popular, pretty, rich...and vicious like populars. I made a big mistake crossing them on my first day at band camp."

"What happened?" Claire asked, leaning forward with interest.

"The firsties wanted me to wear a stupid hat on my first day at camp, but I wouldn't do it," Sheila said. "So they emptied their spit valves into my drink."

Everyone cringed with disgust. The disheveled girl smiled in absolute delight as she heard the story.

"How awful!" Claire said gagging.

"Yea. I earned the nickname 'Spit-Eatin' Sheila' at camp," she said. Then grinned, "But I got them back really good."

"What'd you do?" Andrew asked.

The redhead had a very wicked grin on her face.

"Let's just say..." she said. "It involved some of their underwear...and a little bit of Ben-Gay."

Andrew, Claire and Brian cringed. Bender was smirking with delight. The mystery girl had a wicked grin.

"Nice," Bender said.

"Yea," Sheila said, kind of proud. "They never could prove it was me, but that didn't mean I didn't watch my back after that."

Oddly, the library began to feel oddly warm. That, along with the excitement of the event that had occurred, it made everyone feel sleepy. Eventually the six of them began to get comfortable in their seats: Bender leaned back on his arms, sitting back in his chair, propping his legs up. Brian fell asleep with his pencil in his hand. Claire passed out with her head on the desk. The dark haired quiet girl closed her eyes sitting upright. Then Andrew and Sheila fell asleep resting their heads in their arms.


	8. Bathroom Talk

**9:32 am**

Vernon noticed it was unusually quiet in the library. Usually there would be the occasional argument or whispers between the six detainees. But this was just too quiet. He got up from his desk to check on the six detainees-only to find they were passed out asleep in various position. He glowered at the sight. They had broken the no sleeping rule. Spoiled little PRICKS!

"WAKE UP!" he yelled.

None of them responded. Vernon thought pensively. Surely there was only one way to get their attention, given that they had been in the library for over two hours.

"Who has to go to the lavatory?" he asked.

Everyone raised their hand.

"Alright, let's go," he said gruffly. "You still have about six hours and twenty-eight minutes left."

The six detainees stretched and yawned, trying to rid the stiffness from falling asleep. Sheila shucked off her Army jacket as she was starting to feel hot. Bender cracked his neck and shoulders. Claire, Andrew and Brian rubbed their eyes sleepily. Brian had also took off his jacket.

"Last call for bathroom break!" Vernon announced in an attempt to hustle the detainees.

"Speak now or forever hold your pee!" Sheila said, imitating a Southern Baptist minister.

Some of the detainees snickered. Claire shook her head. Vernon glared at the redhead; her voice imitations and disruptive behavior were starting to irritate him.

Once the detainees were out of their seats, the vice principal escorted them to the bathrooms. Brian walked in front. He was trying to start a conversation with Vernon, who ignored him.

"Alright, that's three minutes for the girls," he announced. "Two minutes for the boys."

"How come the girls get an extra minute?" Bender complained.

"They're the opposite sex, dodo," he answered.

"Why thank you, kind sir," Sheila quipped in a fake British accent, pretending to curtsy. "Such a gentleman."

More snickers came from the detainees. Even the disheveled girl cracked a smile.

"Knock it off, Donovan," Vernon said annoyed. "Just because you're a lady doesn't mean I won't hold back on giving you detention next Saturday."

He turned to the girls, his hand held outward to the bathroom.

"Be off, ladies," he said gesturing to their restroom. Then looked at his watch. "Haga naga! You're on the clock."

The girls rolled their eyes. Jesus! He was making this detention seem like they were at work. The girls and boys divided up and went into their bathrooms.

GIRLS BATHROOM

Claire went to the mirror to reapply her makeup. The basket case went into the stall, ignoring the two girls. Sheila went into the next stall to use the toilet, then came out to wash her hands. She saw that Claire's makeup was laid out on the shelf under the mirror. Her eyes widened at the sight. My God! How could someone need THAT much stuff? Sheila didn't wear much except for simple lipstick, sometimes some mascara and a little eye liner or eye shadow. But all in all, she preferred to keep things simple.

"Do you have any skin cream?" Claire asked. "My neck is really sad."

Sheila shook her head. "Sorry," she said.

She looked at Claire who complained about her supposedly 'sad' neck. She didn't see anything wrong. She kind of envied Claire. Her skin didn't have freckles that wouldn't stop popping up. She checked the mirror to make sure she didn't have drool on her chin after falling asleep in detention. She flicked a long strand of hair out of her face. She looked at Claire, trying to start a conversation since she barely got to talk to her in detention.

"You have really flawless skin," Sheila commented.

Claire glanced over at Sheila with a look of surprise. "Really?"

Sheila nodded genuinely.

"Thank you," she said, smiling.

Claire's chocolate brown eyes assessed the Comedian. She had great features with high cheekbones, an oval shaped face dotted with a smatter of freckles, green eyes and copper hair. Her lips always seemed to be smirking as if she had a joke or trick in mind. But her whole appearance was a whole other matter: very common like a bumpkin, no sense of style and in desperate in need of a makeover. Her makeup consisted of a dusky pink mauve lipstick that she probably just dug out of a bargain bin without thought. A spackle of gold eye shadow with no eyeliner or mascara. Her nails seriously needed a manicure: they were cracked and chipped with ragged islets of cheap cherry red nail polish.

"I wish my skin was like that," Sheila said. "Mine won't stop producing freckles. It's like...every morning I wake up..." Sheila made a popping noise. "...a freckle."

"Are you sure they're not zits?" Claire asked, studying the Comedian's skin.

"Nope," Sheila said. "Zits I can handle because they're easy to get rid of. Freckles are unfortunately forever."

"You could try staying out of the sun," Claire suggested.

"Believe me, I try," Sheila said laughing. "Unfortunately, the Donovan family comes from a LONG line of red heads, freckles and..."

Claire stared curiously at the last sentence. "And what?"

"Drunk comedians," Sheila joked.

"Your parents are alcoholics?" Claire said, obviously failing to see the humor.

"I was joking...sort of," she said.

"My parents drink a lot. Mostly dry martinis. After they fight."

"Same here, but my Dad usually drinks beers," Sheila said.

"I thought you had a stepdad."

"I do. But I have a Dad as well. My parents got divorced when I was ten."

"Oh." Claire said.

Then cleared her throat, thinking about Sheila's skin when she complained about her freckles.

"I have some foundation if you want," she said, looking through her endless make up supply.

Sheila was about to answer when eventually, a crunching noise coming from the stall interrupted their conversation, making them turn. Claire glanced at Sheila who looked just as confused as her.

"Um...are you OK?" Sheila asked.

No answer from the other girl. Sheila arched an eyebrow. The crunching just continued.

"Can't you talk and go at the same time?" Claire asked.

Claire looked at Sheila as if to wonder what to do, earning a shrug. Eventually Claire knocked on the door and then opened the door. The girls found the basket case standing in the stall, just eating a bag of Doritos. She looked at the two girls with dark lined eyes. It was weird that someone would even consider eating in a bathroom. Not to mention disgusting. Eating! Over a toilet!

Claire gagged and stepped back. Sheila just stared in disbelief, unsure of how to react to this situation. Unsure of what to say. She felt uncomfortable, but decided to try to talk to her. After all, she hardly knew anyone and her grandfather encouraged her to make friends. She felt bad for not talking for her in detention. She wondered what her name was. Sheila cleared her throat, looking at the disheveled girl.

"Um...hey," Sheila said, waving in a weak attempt to be polite.

The disheveled girl just kept staring with an expressionless face, crunching her Doritos. She was very pale, her black hair hung over her face, her eyes were dark, lined with black eye liner. Sheila saw her skirt was an A-line that covered her legs; she wore black leggings and a pair of dirty converses on her feet. The dark haired girl sized her up, silently, studying her. Sheila became more uneasy by her presence.

After a long silence and intense, awkward staring, Sheila decided this conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"O-OK...sorry I bothered you," she said uncomfortable. Then ended on a polite note, "Enjoy your snack."

When Sheila went to turn back to the mirror, the girl suddenly spoke:

"You ever find a dead body?"

Claire stopped doing her makeup and turned her head slowly towards the weird girl, staring incredulously. Sheila's eyebrows raised up, blinking a few times and turned slowly around. Amazed that she could talk. Given she was sitting two desks away from her and Brian, but she never bothered to talk to her. She figured she wasn't interested. But that was no excuse not to talk to her.

Wow! That came out of the blue. She thought. Then cleared her throat, deciding to play along with this question, "Animal or human?"

"Does it matter?"

"Mostly animal," she said. "Why?"

"Just wanted to know if we have anything in common."

"God, why are you such a freak?" Claire said in disgust to the basket case.

"We're all freaks in our own way," the basket case said. "What's freaky about you?"

Claire rolled her eyes and went back to putting her makeup on, ignoring the weird girl. The girl's black eyes went to Sheila, waiting for an answer. Sheila decided to at least try to get to know her despite her overwhelming discomfort. She had to think of some lie to defuse the awkward situation. Her father often told her stories and tall tales as a child.

"I saw a UFO once at band camp," Sheila answered.

"Bullshit," the basket case said.

"No. It's true," Sheila said. "I have a photo of me in my band uniform and..."

"I meant your UFO claim is bullshit."

"Well, it is true," Sheila asserted her lie. "I was sitting at the campfire, roasting marshmallows and stargazing with some friends...and then out of the blue, there it was...a shiny saucer with flashing blue lights. I remember it like it was yesterday."

"I was abducted by aliens once," the basket case said.

Sheila nodded, faking a smile and pretending to be interested. Claire rolled her eyes. This girl was too weird. But hell, she was going to be stuck with her.

Mr. Vernon then shouted, breaking the uncomfortable silence between the girls. Sheila rolled her eyes. Claire grabbed all her make up and put it back into her bag.

"What's the rush, Dick?" Sheila remarked quietly. "It's not like we have anything to rush back to."

BOYS BATHROOM

Brian, Andrew and Bender went to the restroom. Bender flipped his dark hair and chose a urinal near the sinks. The two boys looked at each other uncomfortably as they tried to decide what to do.

"You ladies need a formal invitation to pee?" he jeered, looking at the two of them.

The jock rolled his eyes and picked a urinal that was on the opposite end, leaving the center one open. Brian looked uncomfortable and glanced at the stalls. He went in, trying to remain unnoticed.

"What's the matter, Dweeb?" Bender teased. "You afraid to pee out here with the big boys?"

Brian ignored the delinquent's snark and closed the stall behind him. Andrew let out an involuntary snigger.

A few minutes later, Brian came out with his head down. He went to wash his hands. Bender finished and stalked over towards the sink where Brian was washing his hands. He leaned against the wall and cocked his hip. Like a predator, he watched the little geek's blue eyes dart nervously. He lit up a cigarette, taking a few drags, then blew a stream of smoke towards Brian. The geek coughed, waving the smoke away.

"Was THAT really necessary?" Andrew said, rolling his eyes.

Bender ignored Andrew's dumb question and kept his attention on Brian. Ever since he got a kiss from the Teacher's Pet, he decided he was going to poke fun at him.

"Y'know, that Teacher's Pet is pretty cute," Bender began with a smirk.

"Mm-hmm. Sure," Brian said timidly, pretending not to be interested.

"I noticed you were checking her out, dweeb."

Brian looked up from drying his hands; his blue eyes widened, then shook his head quickly at this remark.

"I-I wasn't checking her out," he denied.

"Hey, man! It's cool if you were," Bender said holding up his hands. "No need to get so testy. She's pretty funny...and cute, isn't she?"

"I guess..." Brian answered, shrugging.

Andrew decided to break the tension that was going on in the bathroom between Bender and Brian. It was pretty obvious Bender was going to start something.

"So, was she your first kiss, Johnson?" Andrew asked, still at the urinal.

The nerd turned bright red, rubbing his neck. "I...uh..."

"It's cool if it is, man," Bender said, studying the sandy-haired geek's reaction.

"So, it's true then?" Andrew said, zipping up and went to the sinks to wash his hands.

The delinquent smirked, deciding to poke some more. Andrew was listening to the conversation as well.

"So...do you like her?" Bender asked.

"It's OK if you do," Andrew said with a casual shrug. "We won't judge you, right, Bender?"

The athlete looked straight at the delinquent, half hoping he wouldn't further embarrass Brian since he was under immense pressure already.

"Yea, man..." Bender said with false reassurance. "It's cool."

"I...m-maybe," Brian squeaked.

After a beat, Bender decided to push the limit, given Brian had admitted that he liked the new girl.

"So y'think the carpet matches the drapes?" Bender said.

Brian looked completely confused. He turned to Andrew for an answer. The athlete raised an eyebrow, looking just as bewildered.

"Depends on what type of drapes they are," Brian said innocently.

"What are you talking about?" Andrew said confused.

Bender chuckled as he saw how confused the athlete was and naive the geek was after posing his question.

"Seriously, Sporto?" Bender said, shaking his head. "You've never seen a girl's carpet? I thought you jock straps were waist deep in ladies."

Andrew eventually realized what the delinquent was talking about and rolled his eyes in complete disgust. God! Bender was such a pervert. Every fucking conversation with this moron had to be sexual or provocative.

"Jesus fucking Christ..." he muttered, shaking his head.

"Girls have carpets?" Brian asked confused, looking at the athlete.

"Never mind," Andrew said uneasy. Then turned to Bender. "Just shut up, man. Nobody cares what's in a girl's pants."

"Sure, we do," Bender said, then pointed at Brian. "Although I think Dork here might need a map."

"What's he talking about?" Brian asked still confused.

"Seriously, Dweeb," Bender said. "Did you just breeze through health class when they did sex ed? You don't seem like the type to miss a class."

"O-oh!" the geek said blushing heavily as he got the hint.

"Look, just because you stick your dick in whoever and whatever you want 24/7 does not mean all of us should have to experience it," Andrew said annoyed.

"Well, it's not my fault Dweeb got lost trying to navigate into what's a girl's pants," Bender said. "I'm trying to help him."

"I know what girls have!" Brian said irritated. "I'm not that dumb."

Bender blew a raspberry. "Right," he answered. Then in a falsetto voice, making dimples in his cheeks to mock Brian, "Boys have penises, girls have vaginas."

"It's not just that. I know what's there," Brian answered, his ears turning redder.

"Well, go ahead and tell us, Professor!" Bender challenged, crossing his arms.

Brian licked his lips, then sucked them in. He wasn't sure how to describe female anatomy without making a complete idiot out of himself. In Health Class when they did the sexual health chapter, the teacher read off the terms and had them look at diagrams, everyone would giggle and laugh; Brian was straight up embarrassed.

He imagined how the scenario would go down: with him saying the anatomical terms awkwardly, Andrew and Bender laughing at him; Bender mocking the way he spoke. Brian looked down at his shoes, swallowing.

"Yea...didn't think so," Bender sneered.

"SHAKE IT UP!" Vernon shouted. "Let's go! Zip it up!"

Bender flicked his cigarette into the toilet, which fizzed, and left the bathroom. He didn't bother to wash his hands.

The detainees joined up with Vernon to be escorted back to the library.

"I hope all of you are nice and refreshed," Vernon said sarcastically. "Now you can all work on your essays."

"Very refreshed," Sheila said. "Like a shower."

"Good," Vernon answered. "Hopefully you won't have to go for a while after that."

All of them groaned as they were escorted back to their prison in the library.


	9. Getting to Know You

The six detainees returned to the library after their bathroom break. They were sitting and standing in random places. Andrew had his leg up, stretching it on the banister. Brian stood near the card catalog, hanging near the column. Sheila sat behind Claire. Bender sat on the librarian's desk, ripping a book apart and tossing pages in the air. Andrew rolled his eyes as the delinquent was ripping the book apart.

"That's real intelligent!" he remarked sarcastically.

"You're right," Bender answered flatly. "It's wrong to destroy literature. Such fun to read"

He continued to tear up the book. He glanced at the front page of the destroyed book in his hand.

"Molay really pumps my nads," Bender said.

"It's Molière, dumb ass," Sheila said, rolling her eyes.

"I love his work!" Brian chimed in.

Bender glared at Brian and took a handful of pages and threw it at him. The geek ducked as the flying pages came raining down on him like snow. Sheila glared, annoyed because someone was attempting a simple conversation.

"Why are you such a troglodyte?" she said.

"Why are you such a Teacher's Pet?" he shot back.

Sheila gave him the finger, making the delinquent gasp in mock surprise at her gesture. Brian decided to start a conversation in order to defuse the tension.

"Hey, Sheila," he said. "That was pretty cool what you did yesterday."

Bender stopped ripping the book apart upon hearing what the nerd had said, then looked at the new girl. He tilted his head, intrigued of what the Teacher's Pet had done to get a detention.

"What'd she do yesterday?" he asked, pausing over the card catalog in his lap. "Forget her homework?"

"Mr. Vernon took over history class for Mrs. Russell yesterday," Brian began. "He was giving Claire a hard time."

Bender reacted in mock horror as he heard this.

"Oh NO!" he gasped. "Not dear sweet Queenie!"

"Shut up, Bender!" Claire snapped.

"Yea, well, Vernon was really laying it into her..." Andrew added.

"And Sheila stuck up for me," Claire said smiling appreciatively.

"What could the Teacher's Pet have done to earn a detention for defending Poor Little Rich Girl?" Bender asked.

Claire and Sheila rolled their eyes at the insult. This moron was going to be a pain in the ass all day. It was nothing but endless insults towards everyone...except the dark haired quiet girl. He hadn't said anything to her.

"Mr. Vernon said..." Brian added, feeling a bit uncomfortable for swearing since he rarely did it. "He said, 'This asshole is getting irritated', so Sheila suggested that he use ointments for his irritated ass. So that's why she's in detention today."

Bender chuckled as he heard this. Despite the fact he cut classes all the time, he would've given anything to see Dick get his ass handed to him by a wisecracking girl. That would've been the cherry on top of a perfect sundae.

"It was pretty ballsy even for a newbie," Andrew said with a small smile.

"It was nothing," Sheila replied dismissive. "Anyone else would've done the same. Vernon was being a real dick."

"I wouldn't have," Bender said.

Sheila looked at the criminal and saw that he couldn't hide the fact that he was a little impressed.

Soon Claire and Andrew began a conversation about going to a party at someone's house named Stubbie and that his parents were in Europe. Sheila rested her hand on her fist, listening to the conversation. She wondered if she should ask to go as she wanted to meet new people and make friends in her new town of Shermer. But she felt it would be weird to ask the popular kids such a thing. Given she was new, she figured it was an invite only event.

Shrugging, she looked over at Brian and decided to talk to him a bit about what happened regarding the kiss. She leaned against the card catalog. Brian looked up, seeing the redhead standing there. There was an awkward silence between them.

"Um..." she said. "Ah...well, that was pretty...I didn't make you uncomfortable, did I?"

She couldn't believe she said that! Really smooth! She face palmed.

"Are you talking about that kiss?" Brian asked.

Sheila nodded. "It must've been uncomfortable to be kissed like that out of the blue," she said. "And without asking first."

"No, I just didn't expect it," Brian answered, playing with his fingers. "I've never been kissed by a girl before."

"You didn't think it was shitty of me not to ask you first?" Sheila asked.

"No. I kinda had a feeling you were trying to prove Bender wrong."

Biting her lip, she felt a blush spread on her freckled cheeks. "Well...you're very sweet..."

"T-thank you," Brian said, rubbing his neck.

Given she was new to Shermer and Brian was such a nice boy, she did want to spend a some time with him. He was really nice to her on her first day of school. She looked at him.

"One more question," she said. "How are you in chemistry?"

"I have an A in that class," he answered, then arched an eyebrow. "Why? Do you need a tutor?"

"I was just thinking that," Sheila said, beaming. "I'm pretty shitty in that subject, along with math. Maybe we can meet during study hall and work together."

Brian smiled. "I'd be happy to help you," he answered.

They turned their attention turned to the rest of the group, listening to Claire complain about her parents: how her mom would always says one thing, but her dad would tell her to blow her off. Sheila thought about her own parents, wishing they would fight over her like Claire's. They went towards the desk to sit back down.

"It's a total drag. It's like any minute...divorce," Claire said.

Divorce. Sheila's heart stung when she heard that word. How hard it was to deal with. How she didn't understand why her parents were no longer together. It happened when she was so young. From all the hype, she recalled some friends at her old school who bragged about having two holidays and birthdays with their divorced parents. But she never had any of that. She pushed the thought away, trying to stay engaged in the current conversation.

"If you had to choose between them, who would you pick?" Bender asked.

"I don't think either gives a shit about me," Claire said. "It's like they use me to get back at each other."

"HA!" a voice in the back said.

The detainees looked towards the back where the quiet girl sat, surprise as it's the first thing she had said all day. She blew her bangs out of her face, looking at Claire with her dark eyes.

"Shut up!" Claire snapped.

"Oh the problems of a poor little rich girl," Bender derided.

"Dude, just because people have a lot of money doesn't mean their lives are perfect," Sheila defended. "Take Romeo and Juliet for example: sure, they had a shit ton of cash, but their families were always at each other's throats."

Claire smiled appreciatively. Andrew rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Bender muttered her given 'nickname' that he dubbed her. Brian was impressed that Sheila had used references from Shakespeare. She even pronounced Molière correctly. He wondered what else the new girl's interests were.

"You're just feeling sorry for yourself," Andrew said, turning to Claire.

"Well, if I didn't, nobody else would," Claire argued.

"Oh, you're breaking my heart," Andrew remarked sarcastically.

"Sporto?" Bender asked, hopping off the librarian's desk. "Do you get along with YOUR parents?"

"Well if I said yes, then I'm an idiot, right?" Andrew said.

"You're an idiot anyways," Bender said, hopping over the banister, facing him. "But if you say you get along with your parents...then you're a liar too."

"And how would you know that?" Sheila asked, arching an eyebrow.

"It's pretty obvious that nobody does," Bender said. Bender strode over to where Sheila was sitting, his head tilted. "How 'bout your parents, Teacher's Pet? Do you get along with them? Especially Big Stepdaddy?"

"I live with my grandpa," Sheila said simply, not wanting to talk about her parents.

"Oh RIGHT! The blind ol' geezer who almost ran me over this morning!" Bender said snidely.

"Doesn't change the fact that YOU stepped out in front of the car, dumb ass!" Sheila argued. "And don't talk about my Gramps like that! He's a hard ass, but at least he gives a shit about me."

The other detainees looked at the comedian curiously as she told them a little about her home life. They wondered why she was living with her grandfather and not her parents. Assumptions fired in their brains about her family life. Brian decided to be brave enough to ask. Bender unfortunately cut him off.

"Where are your parents?" Bender asked.

"And why are you living with your grandpa?" Brian added. "Why aren't you living with your parents?"

"So I can go to school here," Sheila said. "And my actual parents are divorced."

"Obviously, Teacher's Pet, since we all know about Big Stepdaddy," Bender said. Then emphasized his original question, "But where are they?"

Sheila didn't want to get into any details about her parents or her stepfather. In fact, she didn't want to talk about them at all. She was angry at them. She kept the details to herself. The delinquent was asking too many questions. He'd probably use this information against her and insult her throughout the day.

Christ! She didn't know how long she could deal with Bender and his primeval behavior. She had to push the discomfort away and not let anyone see her resentment and anger over it. To wear her comedy mask. Hide her real feelings. She just put on that smile like she always did when she felt uncomfortable.

"Back home in Detroit," she said simply.

"It must be an absolute JOY to have TWO holidays and birthdays being a child of divorce, huh, Teacher's Pet?" Bender said.

Sheila snorted with derision. "I WISH!" she said.

"I-I don't get along with my parents," Brian added. "I don't get along with them when their idea of parental compassion is...is just, you know, wacko, you know."

Sheila listened to Brian and wondered what his relationship was with them. What did he mean by wacko? She imagined Brian's parents were teachers or some kind of intelligent scholars who encouraged him to do his best, being positive role models, praising him for his intelligence.

"Dork?" Bender interjected, holding a hand up to silence him.

"Yea?"

"You are a parents' wet dream," Bender patted him on the arm and then lightly shoved him towards a desk, making him sit down.

"Well, that's the problem," Brian answered.

"Look, I can see you getting all bunged up for them making you wearing these clothes," Bender said. "But face it: you're a neo-maxie-zoon-dweebie. What would you be doing if you weren't making yourself a better citizen?"

"Why do you have to insult everyone?" Sheila said.

"I'm being honest, you ginger Amazon," said Bender; Sheila had to roll her eyes at this petty 4th grade insult regarding her hair and height. "I would expect you to know the difference."

"Y'know, just cut it with the insults," Andrew said, also getting annoyed with Bender's barbs. "We have names, y'know."

"Yea?" Bender said.

"Yea," Andrew echoed. He looked at nerd. "What's your name?"

"Brian," the nerd answered.

"See?" Andrew said.

"My condolences," Bender said with false sympathy.

"What's yours? Or is Bender even your real name?" Sheila asked, resting her hands on the seat of her chair.

"It's John. I prefer to be called Bender," he answered. "Nice to make your acquaintance..."

Bender paused for a moment, trying to remember her name, but didn't seem to give a shit what it was. Sheila rolled her eyes. God! Vernon had said her name several times along with the princess, jock and the nerd. Did he really not know her name already or just not give a shit?

"Sheila. Sheila Donovan," the Comedian responded, moving a thin strand of her bangs out of her eye.

"How very...traditional," Bender commented.

Sheila was dumbstruck with confusion by this comment about her name; her mouth dropped open. Scoffing, she couldn't believe Bender was going to insult her name now. What would be next?

"Gee, thanks, Bender!" the redhead responded deadpan.

Bender strode to the front of Claire's desk, posing his question to the princess, "What's yours?"

"Claire," the princess responded.

"Kah-Laire?" he sneered.

Jesus! Was he going to insult everyone about their names? Just the way Bender pronounced it, he sounded like a complete caveman.

"Claire," the princess answered simply. "It's a family name."

"No. It's a fat girl's name," Bender insulted.

"Why, thank you!" Claire responded sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" he shot back.

"I'm not fat!"

"Well, not at the present," Bender answered. "But I can see you're pushing maximum density."

"Wow, Bender," Sheila remarked, shaking her head. "Why don't you just kick her in the ribs while you're at it?"

"Sorry that the truth hurts, Teacher's Pet," he said snide.

Then turned his attention to Claire, "Y'see I'm not sure if you know this, but there's two kinds of fat people: there's fat people that were born fat. And there are fat people who were once thin, but they became fat. When you look at them, you can see that thin person inside."

Claire looked a bit hurt, but swallowed it back. Some thug calling her fat and even telling her she was going to be in the future really hurt her.

"Y'see, you're gonna get married," Bender continued. "You're gonna squeeze out a few puppies and then..."

He puffed his cheeks out, making grunts and cupping his hands to emphasize someone getting fatter and fatter. Claire glared, giving him the finger. The delinquent gave a mock gasp of shock.

"Obscene finger gesture from such a pristine girl!" he said.

"I'm not that pristine," Claire fired back.

The delinquent approached Claire's desk, leaning on his hands and stared intensely into Claire's soft brown eyes, studying her.

"Are you a virgin?" he asked.

She sat there looking uncomfortable in silence. Sheila made a disgusted scoff. Was he kidding? Of all the questions someone could ask and this had to be one of them! Like really?

"I'll bet you a million dollars that you are," Bender continued, pushing with his interrogation.

Sheila decided to break the growing tension by making Bender the butt of the joke.

"The man doth protest too much, methinks," Sheila replied in a sing song.

"Huh?" Bender responded dumbly. "What're you babblin' about, Teacher's Pet?"

"I'm just saying, dude...sounds like you're projecting. Maybe you're insecure about your OWN sexuality?" Sheila responded with a shrug.

Andrew and Brian sniggered as the Comedian took some shots at Bender. It was pretty obvious that the two of them were going to spend all of detention trying to one-up the other with their bantering and bickering.

"Yea. OK. Whatever you say, Teacher's Pet," Bender shot back with an eye roll.

Shit! Well, that didn't work. Sheila had to carefully consider what she said next time. Trying to crack this criminal was like tiptoeing through a field of land minds. He always had a comeback. He always had a burn.

"Let's end the suspense," Bender continued, then imitated Billy Idol's voice. "Is it gonna be a...white weddin'?"

"Why don't you just shut up?" Claire snapped.

"Have you ever kissed a boy on the mouth?" he asked in a low, tense voice.

Claire sat there, frozen and flushed as she heard the question posed. Her mouth dropped open for a second, then swallowed.

"Have you ever been felt up...over the bra, under the blouse, your shoes off, hopin' to God your parents don't walk in?" he continued in a husky voice.

Sheila's mouth dropped open when she heard these obscene comments. Doing this to Claire was not OK. While Claire was a bit stuck up, superficial, materialistic, and whiny at times, but that didn't mean anyone had the right to treat her like so. Andrew clenched his jaw, his face turning red with anger. Brian blushed, lowering his head, unsure of what to do about this situation.

"Do you want me to puke?" Claire said softly, panting and flushed.

"Are you insane?" Sheila said incredulous, breaking the tension.

Bender broke contact with Claire to look at the Teacher's Pet, annoyed that she was once again being nosy.

"Typical Teacher's Pet: sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," Bender replied. Then added by rubbing his nose with his finger, "By the way, you got something on your nose."

Sheila scoffed. "How IRONIC coming from someone who's asking about another's personal business. What are you trying to accomplish here? You think your dirty talk is going to motivate her? News flash, asshole! It's not cool to harass girls."

"Do you honestly think I give a shit what you think, Teacher's Pet?" Bender said glaring at Sheila.

"Apparently you do when it comes to someone's personal life," Sheila answered angrily.

"Just stay out of this, you ginger Amazon," he snapped.

Oh Christ! Here we go again with the insults about my hair and apparently my height! Sheila thought, rolling her eyes.

"Leave her alone!" Andrew said, his jaw was clenched and shook with anger.

"You gonna make me?" Bender said, straightening up, glaring at the jock.

"Yea," Andrew answered.

Bender coolly stepped on top of the table, onto a chair and right towards Andrew.

"Y'know somethin', man," Andrew continued, glaring at the criminal. "If we weren't in school right now, I'd waste you."

"Can you hear this?" Bender said, pointing his middle finger towards the floor and then slowly turned his hand upward so that he was giving him the bird. "Want me to turn it up?"

"Stop it!" Claire snapped. "Just STOP it!"

"Let's end this right now!" Andrew said, his voice rising with his anger. "You don't talk to her. You don't look at her. You don't even think about her! You understand me?"

"I'm tryin' to help her!" Bender argued.

"Bullshit!" Sheila spat. "This wasn't even about Claire! It's about your oversized egos."

Andrew stopped to consider what Sheila had said, but Bender was having none of it. Bender shoved Andrew roughly, making the athlete stumble a bit. Given he was used to this, he was able to maintain his balance. He glared at the delinquent.

"Oh so you wanna play it this way, huh?" Andrew said low.

"Let's go, Sporto!" Bender challenged. "When you're ready..."

"You can't fight in the library," Brian said timid. "You'll get in more trouble."

The mystery girl squeaked as she watched the two boys reach their boiling point. Andrew stepped up to Bender; despite being shorter than him, he was ready to take him down.

"Two hits," Andrew said naming the terms. "You and me. Me hitting you. And you hitting the floor. Anytime you're ready, pal."

Bender went to smack Andrew across the face, but Andrew quickly got the better of him, pulling Bender to the ground with a wrestling move. Bender struggled on the floor, his face was crushed into the floor.

"I don't wanna get into this with you man!" Bender said.

Andrew leaped to his feet. Bender got back up.

"Why not?" the jock said.

"'Cuz I'd kill you," Bender answered. "It's real simple. I'd kill you and your fuckin' parents would sue me and I don't care enough about you to bother."

"Chicken shit," Andrew muttered, shaking his head.

Bender reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a switchblade, which he opened with a click. Holy SHIT! Everyone's eyes widened at the sight. Was he really serious? Was he going to stab Andrew?

The athlete turned back around to see Bender holding the knife with wide blue eyes. Brian looked back, also scared. Bender turned and stabbed the chair. Andrew stormed up to Bender and the two of them began to argue again that it eventually escalated into another physical fight where Andrew and Bender were wrestling on the floor. It was pretty clear that Andrew had the upper hand.

Sheila saw the dark haired girl eyeing the knife. Worried that she might do something with it, given the last conversation with her in the bathroom, the redhaired comedian hopped up out of her seat and walked over with a quickstep. She grabbed the knife and pulled it out. Sheila looked at the switchblade, trying to figure out how to close it so she could hide it in her pocket. Since she had no knowledge of how to work it, the only option she had was to ditch the weapon. She panicked, looking for a good place to hide it since she knew having a weapon in school was illegal.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Her mind was screaming 'shit!' a mile a minute. She had to find a good place to hide it. Where the fuck could she hide it? It was then, the library door opened with a bang and...

"DONOVAN!" a voice yelled.

Sheila could've sworn her heart stopped when she heard that dreaded voice she thought she'd never hear again.


	10. Confrontations, Cover Ups, and Comfort

**10:15 AM**

Carl Reed, janitor of Shermer High for 8 years and once Man of the Year in 1962, pushed his supply cart with him, heading towards the library. He heard loud shouting inside. He opened the door stealthily, seeing the jock and the delinquent fighting on the floor and a glint of metal in the new girl's hand, looking at it as if she were trying to figure out how to close it. His eyes widened when he realized what it was, carefully closing the door. He turned his head towards Vernon's office.

"Hey, Vern!" he called.

Mr. Vernon sat in his office, bored out of his mind. Eventually he heard Carl call out to him.

"Yea?"

"You might wanna get in the library, man," he said. "There's a fight going on in there...and one of them has a weapon."

Vernon became alarmed upon hearing this and got out of his seat immediately.

"Oh for CHRIST sake!" he cried out exasperated.

With a quick step, he flung the door open and observed the scene in the library: the athlete and the criminal wrestling on the floor and the red haired miscreant was clutching a switchblade in her right hand. The fighting boys didn't even hear the library door being opened loudly.

"DONOVAN!" he yelled. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?!"

Sheila looked up to see Vernon staring straight at her. By the looks of it, he was several levels of royally pissed off. She froze like a statue. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Her face turned white. Her stomach sank. Her mouth went dry. Her green eyes wide as dinner plates. She felt like she was going to faint.

This looked bad. No. She was in deep shit.

Vernon stared at the knife in Sheila's hand, then the two fighting boys on the floor, deciding which situation to handle first. Judging by the frozen expression on her face, he knew she wasn't going anywhere. The fight between Andrew and Bender needed to be dealt with first since it was an accident was waiting to happen. That meant filling out an incident report. So much fucking paperwork and investigations. Things Vernon didn't want to deal with at all.

"Don't you DARE move!" he warned, pointing a finger at Sheila.

Vernon marched straight towards Andrew and Bender, pulling them apart roughly.

"Alright, you two! Break it up! Let's go!" he said sharply. "Break it up! What's the matter with you?! Get back to your seats!"

Andrew backed off when he heard Vernon's stern voice like a dog hearing its master's command. The boys stood up, straightening themselves out, flushed with anger and glazed with sweat, panting. They gave each other dirty looks. Vernon glared at Andrew first.

"I expected a varsity letterman to have some restraint," Vernon said sternly. "Any more fighting in here and you'll be here next Saturday. Is that clear, Andrew?"

The athlete lowered his head in shame, sitting down. He nodded quietly. Then Vernon turned to Bender; it was pretty obvious he was the one responsible for starting this fight.

"That's another Saturday I'll be seeing you, Bender," he said.

Bender remained defiant as ever, flipping his hair out of his face, returning to his seat.

Once the boys were back in their proper seats, Vernon turned his attention to Sheila, striding up to her like an angry bull.

"Give me that knife," he demanded, ripping the switchblade out of her hand.

The redhead flinched, staring with trepidation as she realized she was doomed. There was no way she could explain her way out of this.

"Well, Donovan, you may have just set the record for fastest expulsion in the history of the district," Vernon said. "...unless, of course, you can come up with a reasonable explanation."

Sheila's mind screamed at her to say something. Despite the fact she was on the verge of being expelled from Shermer, she didn't know what the fuck to say. Only one day here and her fucking fate lay in Vernon's hands. Her eyes darted quickly to Bender who also was giving her a death stare, then looked at the angry face of Vernon who was waiting for an explanation. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I found it, sir."

The kids stared at her incredulously. Bender looked surprised and relieved. Despite the fact they didn't like each other, it was good to know the new girl was no snitch. She had gone along with his lie about closing the door. The vice principal's eyes were slits as he listened to the redhead's explanation.

"You expect me to believe there was a switchblade lying around the library?" Vernon said cynically.

"It's the truth," she insisted.

Vernon relaxed a bit. Oh THIS he had to hear! He could only wonder what crazy explanation the comedian had about how a switchblade magically appeared in the library.

"How did you find it?" the man asked.

"I know you said we weren't supposed to get up, but I needed to stretch my legs," Sheila explained. "I was pacing up and down the aisle...just to clear my head so I could think about what to write for the essay. Anyway, I found it in one of the aisles sticking out of Moby's Dick."

The classmates stifled their laughter. Bender cracked a smile.

"It's _Moby Dick_," Mr. Vernon corrected, not amused.

"Right. Well, anyway, I was just bringing it to you and that's when you walked in," Sheila concluded. She turned to her classmates, "Right, guys?"

The rest of the kids nodded affirmatively. Vernon's steel eyes narrowed, assessing the situation. He knew the red haired miscreant was full of shit. Her story was so ridiculous that he didn't believe one word of it.

"Nice try, Donovan, but possession is nine-tenths of the law," the vice principal answered sternly. "You're expelled, missy. Let's go."

Sheila's face fell upon hearing this. Only a day here and she was getting kicked out. It wasn't fair! She was beginning to regret grabbing that knife.

"What?!" Sheila exclaimed. "This is BULLSHIT!"

She was on the verge of tears, imagining her life after being expelled. Her grandpa would be so disappointed in her. Then spending her days at the military academy to deal with more abuse (not that she didn't get enough from her shitty stepfather) and becoming a brainwashed military drone, never having fun like a normal teenager. Being alone in the world.

Vernon grabbed the smart mouth by the collar, ready to drag her towards his office.

"Let me go!" she cried angrily. "I can walk myself, thank you!"

"Uh...Dick?" spoke up Bender.

The vice principal stopped short and turned to face the criminal with an icy glare. He didn't like being called by this nickname, especially by students.

"'Scuse me, Rich?" Bender corrected. "Are you really dumb enough to believe that's Sheila's knife?"

Vernon let Sheila go. She straightened up her Army jacket and went back to her seat. Her body was trembling. She sniffled, lowering her head to rid any tears in her eyes. Brian looked over with silent concern. He wished he could comfort her without touching her. He reached into his backpack and grabbed a tissue, offering it to her. Sheila looked grateful at him, giving him a weak smile.

"You just bought yourself another Saturday, mister," Vernon said sternly.

"Eat my shorts," Bender muttered quietly.

"What was that?!" Vernon demanded sharply, marching towards Bender.

The vice principal and the criminal prepared to face off in a heated confrontation; Bender leaned back in his chair, giving Vernon a defiant sneer. The taller man glared at the criminal, hands on his hips, ready to fire away at his first smart mouthed reply.

"Eat. My. SHORTS!" Bender responded louder.

"You just bought one more right there," he said, pointing a finger.

"Oh...I'm crushed," Bender derided in mock hurt.

"That's another Saturday."

"Well, I'm free the Saturday after _that_," Bender retorted. "Beyond that, I'm gonna have to check my calendar."

"Good! 'Cause it's gonna be filled!" Vernon said, raising his voice. "We'll keep goin'. You want another one?"

Bender shifted in his chair. He seemed to be contemplating the vice principal's words.

"Say the word! Just say the word," Vernon challenged. "Instead of going to prison, you'll come here!"

Bender sat back and then crossed his arms, glaring defiantly at the vice principal.

"Are you through?" Vernon asked.

"No." Bender shot back.

"I'm doing society a favor."

"So?"

"That's another one right now!" Vernon said. The man was losing his patience with this punk. His voice was rising with his anger. "I got you for the rest of your natural born life if you don't watch your step! You want another one?"

"Yes!"

"YOU GOT IT!" Vernon exploded. "You got another one! Right there! That's another one, pal!"

So far, Bender had six detentions, including the one he got for poking fun at Mr. Vernon's wardrobe and starting a fight.

Sheila felt bad for Bender having to cover for her after she did the same for him. Sure, Bender was an asshole who made sexist comments at her and Claire, but Vernon was such a tyrannical prick. She had to figure out a way to take the heat off Bender. A crazy idea popped into her head. She could only hope it worked.

"Sir, I think..." Sheila interrupted.

"I'd stay out of this if I were you, Donovan!" Vernon barked with a death stare.

"But, sir..."

"Watch it, honey. You're walking on very thin ice..." he said pointing a finger at her.

"The phone in your office is ringing."

Vernon furrowed his brow. "I don't hear anything."

"I hear it too," Claire chimed in.

Vernon tilted his head towards his office as if to listen for the phone ringing, but decided to head out. He glared at Bender, making a hand sign of the horns.

"You're mine, Bender," said Vernon. "For ONE month, I gotcha! I gotcha!"

"What can I say?" Bender answered. "I'm THRILLED!"

"Oh I'm sure that's EXACTLY what you want these people to believe," Vernon said. "Y'know something, Bender: you ought to spend more time trying to do something with yourself and a little _less_ time trying to impress people. You might be better off."

Bender nodded with a sneer. Vernon stormed off, letting the library door slam behind him.

"FUCK YOU!" Bender shouted.

Vernon stood outside the library. He heaved a defeated sigh, exhausted from fighting with these disrespectful pricks. He just didn't understand kids today. He worked so hard to get a respectable position, but never got any respect in return. He lowered his head and went back to his office.

Sheila looked down at her desk. Brian leaned towards her.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

Sheila nodded, sniffling. "I was really scared shitless."

"Pretty ballsy move to grab Bender's knife," Andrew said. "You could've gotten expelled."

"I was going to ditch it somewhere and then give it back later," Sheila said.

"Good to know you're no rat, Teacher's Pet," Bender said.

"In Detroit, we go by a saying, snitches end up in ditches," she said.

"I thought it was 'snitches get stitches'," Andrew said.

"Not in Detroit," Sheila answered with a smirk.

Bender laughed. He was starting to like the Teacher's Pet more and more. After a beat, Sheila turned to Bender, looking at him appreciatively.

"Well, good thing I won't end up having to throw you in a ditch, Teacher's Pet," Bender quipped.

"Good thing I'm no snitch then, Bender," Sheila said. "And thanks for covering my ass about the knife. I thought I'd lose my shit."

"Well, it WAS mine," Bender said. "And thanks for trying to take the heat off me, Teacher's Pet. I know Dick's phone wasn't ringing."

"Any time," Sheila answered.

Eventually the door opened, Carl the janitor came in with his utility cart: it had mops, brooms, a giant plastic trash can, some toilet paper and paper towel rolls, garbage bags, spray bottles. A small radio hung on the handle, playing a pop tune. He stepped into a room with big glass windows, grabbing a garbage can and emptied it.

"Hey, Brian, how ya doin?" he said.

Brian looked embarrassed. Sheila glanced at him, wondering how he knew him so well. Bender smirked. Everyone giggled. Sheila looked confused. What was so funny? Why would this be funny at all?

"Your dad work here?" he teased. Then turned his attention to the janitor, "Uh, Carl! Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he said.

"How does one become a janitor?"

"You want to be a janitor?" he asked skeptically.

"No. I want to know how one BECOMES a janitor because..." Bender said, then pointed to Sheila. "_Sheila_ here is very interested in pursuing the custodial arts."

Sheila glared at Bender, her jaw jutted outward. Sheila rolled her eyes. Bender and his usual need to be the center of attention. She was so sure he had a smug grin on his face. God! She decided to step up her game with him. Make sure SHE came on top.

"Actually, _Bender_ was the one telling ME that!" Sheila piped up, giving a smugger grin. "_He_ finds the custodial arts quite fascinating. Right, Bender?"

The classmates sniggered when Bender realized the redhead was trying to make a fool out of him. The criminal turned around and gave the comedian a death stare.

"Bitch," he whispered.

Sheila imitated Vernon by using his trademark hand gesture. "Don't mess with the bull, young man!" she said in Vernon's voice.

Her classmates snickered. Carl looked at the detainees who were arguing. The new girl was a comedian. He could see her life going nowhere being a clown. Probably end up an alcoholic.

"Really?" Carl said. Then all of a sudden his tone changed, "You just think I'm just some lonely janitor? Some untouchable peasant, servant, peon, huh?"

The detainees stared at the janitor.

"Maybe so," he continued. "But following a broom with shitheads like you for the past 8 years, I've learned some things. I look through your letters...I look through your lockers." Upon saying this, he jingled his keys. "I listen to your conversations. You don't know that, but I do."

The detainees eyes widened with horror as they realized what Carl had told them. Sheila made a note to remember to whisper and tear up her notes from here on out.

"I am the _eyes_ and _ears_ of this institution, my friends..." Carl said.

He turned to leave, only to glance at the clock on the wall and then looked at his wrist watch. "Oh, by the way, that clock is 20 minutes fast," he pointed.

Bender chuckled. Brian looked at the clock. The detainees groaned. That meant they were going to be stuck here even LONGER! Not to mention, she had to stay an additional 7 minutes. SHIT!

Eventually, Sheila got out of her seat, going towards Claire. She had meant to talk to her earlier about the whole Bender incident, but she decided this would be a good time.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked.

The princess looked up. "Sure."

Sheila gestured to the aisles of books so they could be alone. Claire got up and followed Sheila to the nonfiction section. The girls sat down on the floor, sitting on opposite ends of the shelves. The princess and the comedian, facing each other. Claire's legs were stretched out while Sheila hugged hers.

"So...?" Claire began. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well...I wanted to make sure you were alright. Y'know about what Bender said to you earlier. I kind of got caught up in the hype," Sheila began. "From the fight between Andrew and Bender."

Claire looked appreciative. "Thank you," she said. "I'm OK now."

The girls still stared at each other silently. Sheila saw the look of discomfort on her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sheila asked.

Claire thought pensively. She thought about what Bender had said. How it perturbed her. It sickened her that he talked like that. Yet, she felt very conflicting feelings. The way he described things. How low and husky his voice got. She shook it off and then looked at Sheila.

"How do you deal with that?" she began.

"Guys do it all the time," Sheila said. "Usually it's their dumb way of saying they like you. Kind of like how they'd pull your pigtails on the playground."

"Oh I wouldn't know. I always had a bowl cut."

"Well, you get the concept, right?"

"Yea."

The princess swallowed and sighed. "Look, I'm know I'm not some starving kid in Africa."

"It doesn't mean your problems aren't relevant," the Comedian said.

"It's hard being a pawn in someone else's game."

"I thought you were the Queen."

Claire giggled lightly.

"Can I be frank?" Sheila said. "Honestly, I wish my parents fought over me."

"What do you mean? I thought your parents were divorced."

"They are. But mostly what they fought over was money, my father being unemployed, how I needed clothes, shoes, school stuff...stupid shit like that."

"Sounds like something normal parents would fight over," Claire said.

"Not really. My Dad was always unemployed. He couldn't find full time work. He mostly did entertaining," Sheila said. "But he was terrible at managing money. He'd always squeeze some pennies out to make sure I was happy at least. He would buy me a toy I liked, some shoes, candy."

"That's good you were close with your Dad," Claire said.

Sheila looked down. She didn't like talking about him. It hurt. The man she loved and adored as a child. The man who just disappeared like smoke one day. She remembered to wear her comedy mask. Hide the pain and the hurt. Just joke about it.

"Yea. He was a good man," she said. "Every day when I came home from school, he'd be there waiting to surprise me with an adventure. He'd take me someplace special, we'd do fun stuff, eat great foods like ice cream sundaes. He was a funny man. My favorite memory of him was whenever I had a nightmare, he'd let me stay up late and watch old comedies with him. He'd even do impressions and put on shows for me. He'd make me laugh until I forgot about everything bad going on."

Claire sighed, listening to the story about Sheila's father. She wished her father would have been like Sheila's. All he did was read a newspaper, handed over his wallet or buy her something. She wondered if he really did love her or was she just some prize to be won against this stupid war pitted against her mother.

"What's it like having divorced parents?" she asked.

Sheila shrugged. "It's...fine, I guess. But my mother got remarried since then."

"Stepfathers aren't so bad to have," Claire said. "I have friends who have great ones."

"Well, not mine. He's an asshole. He seems to want my mother all to himself and pushes me away."

"Did you tell your mom about this?"

"She's too blindly in love with him. She doesn't seem to believe anything I say. It really sucks. It's like all she cares about is this douche bag. She's acting like a newlywed even though they've been married for four years."

"So did you and your mom get along before the divorce?"

"Well...she worked a lot. She was the bread winner. She had to provide food and clothes mostly. I felt she wasn't always...y'know, there. Kind of like how my Dad was always there."

_Until that day..._Sheila's tragedy mask spoke. She pushed the thought away. She had to keep the comedy mask on. Keep any bad feelings away.

"Thanks for the talk," Claire said appreciatively. "I appreciate it."

"Ditto," Sheila said.


	11. Nuts, Sluts, and Cherries

**11:30 am**

Vernon sat at his desk, bored. He had a makeshift contraption made of pencils and a Styrofoam coffee cup. He blew it to make it move, chuckling lightly. Then he yawned sleepily, looking at his watch and then his desk clock.

"Feeding time at the zoo," he mumbled.

He stood up from his desk and grabbed his jacket to head to the library.

* * *

Bender began whistling "Colonel Bogey's March" from _The Bridge over the River Kwai_. Eventually it was joined by the rest of the detainees. Brian's knee bounced along with the rhythm. Claire and Sheila bobbed their heads. The girl in the back whistled lightly.

Upon hearing the door open, seeing Mr. Vernon approaching, the whistling came to a faltering stop. Given this was appropriate timing, Bender decided to whistle a few notes from Beethoven's 5th. Sheila echoed the next notes. This earned a glare from Mr. Vernon.

"Alright, girls," Mr. Vernon announced. "That's 30 minutes for lunch."

"Here?" Sheila asked.

"Here," the man reaffirmed.

"I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place to eat lunch in, sir," Andrew suggested with a hopeful look.

Sheila nodded in agreement as she was getting tired of being stuck in here all day. She could be imagine everyone else was too.

"Well I don't care _what_ you think, Andrew," Vernon answered with a zero fucks given attitude.

"Uh, Dick...'scuse me, Rich?" Bender asked. "Will milk be made available to us?"

"We're extremely thirsty, sir," Andrew added.

"I have a very low tolerance for dehydration," Claire chimed.

Sheila rolled her eyes at this. _God! Dramatic much, Claire?_ Sheila thought.

"I've seen her dehydrate, sir," Andrew confirmed. "It's pretty gross."

"Relax, I'll get it," Bender said getting up.

"Uh, uh, uh!" Vernon said sharply, making the criminal stop in his tracks. "Grab some wood there, bub! Y'think I was born yesterday?"

The delinquent nodded, pouting as he slowly sat back down.

"We wish," she muttered.

"Excuse me, Donovan?" Vernon demanded sharply when he heard the Smart Mouth's reply.

_Damn him and his Vulcan hearing!_ Sheila thought. She had to improvise quickly. She was already in enough trouble regarding the knife earlier. She smiled politely, folding her hands like a lady.

"I said I _wish..._to have some Coke, please," Sheila answered.

Vernon looked suspicious, but he let it go. "There's a soft drink machine in the teacher's lounge," he said.

His gray eyes scanned the six detainees, carefully contemplating which detainees he would permit to go get drinks. No way was he going to let Bender wander the halls, knowing him too well.

"You!" he said, pointing to Andrew.

He continued to look over the detainees. Andrew pointed to Claire as if to subtly suggest to pick her. The princess straightened up, looking hopeful. Vernon looked towards the back of the room.

"And you!" he said, pointing a finger.

The detainees eyes' followed the direction where Vernon was pointing. He had chosen the disheveled girl in the back who was sitting there quietly with her eyes closed. She didn't apparently hear him.

"Hey!" Vernon called. "What's her name? Wake her! Wake her!"

Sheila looked at Brian, incredulous that someone like Mr. Vernon wouldn't even know what the disheveled girl's name was. She felt a slight pang of guilt for not asking either.

"C'mon! On your feet, missy! Let's go!" Vernon barked impatiently. "This isn't a rest home."

The dark haired girl glared at Vernon with contempt, then grabbed her bag and got up out of her seat. She brushed past Andrew, keeping her head down.

Andrew went around collecting money for the vending machine. Each of the detainees dug money out of their wallets.

"C'mon! Shake a tail feather! Ante up!" Vernon said impatient.

Bender held out his hand towards Brian to borrow money. This prompted the geek to give him a high five. The criminal gave the geek an intimidating stare.

"Brian..." Sheila whispered. "That's...not what he's saying."

Brian glanced at the redhead, then at Bender. Upon realization, he laughed embarrassed and face palmed, and dug out some extra money, giving it to Andrew.

"Some of us don't GET a lunch hour around here! C'mon! Hagga nagga!" Vernon said.

Sheila had to roll her eyes. Really? Vernon didn't get a lunch? That was bullshit. What was he doing all this time then? She imagined Vernon in his boring office, doing boring paper work all day long. He couldn't take time out of HIS boring schedule to have lunch.

"Prick," she muttered as quietly as possible.

Once Vernon left with Andrew and the disheveled girl, the four remaining detainees got up. They went to the center of the library. Claire leaned against the sculpture, bored. Brian sat on the steps, his legs hanging over the side. Bender sat on the desks with some encyclopedias, thumbing through the pages of one. Sheila sat on the desks where Bender sat, swinging her legs.

"Hey, you wanna see a photo of a man with elephantiasis to the nuts?" Bender said. "It's pretty tasty."

"No thank you!" Claire said.

"How do you think he rides a bike?"

"Probably puts them in a basket and rides very carefully," Sheila piped.

Bender laughed. Brian bit his lip, snorting. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Would you ever consider dating a guy like this?" Bender asked.

Sheila shrugged, looking at the photo in the book. "Depends."

"On what?"

"Well, great personality would be a must. He'd have to have a sense of humor, be intelligent and sweet."

"How about if he was a great dancer or had a cool car?" Bender asked. "Although you might have to sit in the back because his nuts would ride shotgun."

"He could be a shitty dancer, it wouldn't matter to me," Sheila answered. "What he drives isn't that important. As long as he had a car and it's functioning."

Brian smiled lightly. Bender glanced at Brian. Smirking, knowing Brian had been checking out the red haired comedian most of the day.

"Looks like you're in luck, Brian," Bender teased.

Brian blushed, clenching his teeth. Sheila looked at the boys. She figured out what was going on, then shook her head.

"Wow, Bender. You sure spread sexual tension around more than an STD," Sheila scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Would you just stop?" Claire said disgusted. After a beat, she sighed bored. "Y'know what I wish I was doing?"

"Uh, watch what you say," Bender warned. "Brian here is a cherry."

Brian looked at Bender with disbelief. "A cherry?"

"I wish I was on a plane," Claire said quietly. "To France."

Brian had turned bright red. "I'm not a cherry," he said quietly.

Bender gave Brian a cynical look. "When have _you_ ever gotten laid?"

"I've been laid lots of times," Brian said.

Sheila arched an eyebrow. It was pretty obvious he was lying.

"Name one," she challenged, crossing her arms.

Brian looked at Sheila. He swallowed, his cheeks were bright red.

"She lives in Canada," he said. "We met at Niagara Falls. You wouldn't know her."

_Right..._Sheila thought skeptically. Like she hadn't heard that The Imaginary Lover from Canada that Nobody Ever Seen bullshit excuse. It was a pretty common excuse used either by someone who wasn't interested in dating somebody or by embarrassed geeks who never got action.

"You ever laid anyone around here?" Bender asked.

Brian put a finger to his mouth to tell him to shut up, gesturing to the girls. Bender looked at the nerd and the princess, putting two and two together.

"Ohh...you and Claire did it?" Bender said.

Claire perked up at the sound of her name. Sheila looked at them, arching an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Claire said curiously.

"Nothing. Nothing. Let's just drop it," Brian said quickly. Then looked at Bender, "We'll talk about it later."

"Drop what?" Claire asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, what Brian's telling us that in addition to the _number_ of girls in the Niagara Falls area, that presently you and him are riding the hobby horse." Bender said.

Claire looked at him disgusted. "Little pig!"

"No, I'm NOT!" Brian exclaimed. "John said I was a cherry and I said I was not. That's it! That's all that was said."

"Then what were you motioning to Claire for?" Bender asked.

"Y'know I don't appreciate this very much, Brian," Claire said disappointed.

"He is lying!" Brian said desperately.

"Oh you WEREN'T motioning to Claire?" Bender challenged.

"Y'know he's lying, right?" Brian said, pointing a finger at Bender.

"Were you or were you not motioning to Claire?" Bender asked.

"Yea...but it was only..." Brian said. Then he looked away, his cheeks burned, "I didn't want anyone to know I was a virgin."

"Why didn't you want us to know that?" Claire asked curiously.

"Because it's my personal business," Brian said irritated. "It's my personal, private business."

"Dork, you asked earlier what 'double bagging it' and 'does the carpet match the drapes' meant. You're not exactly getting any business," Bender said.

"Well, excuse me for being a virgin," Brian said defensive. "I'm sorry."

Seeing how embarrassed Brian was, Sheila figured this was the time to speak up.

"I think it's cool that you're a virgin," Sheila said.

Brian perked up as he heard the new girl's words. He blinked a few times. Even Bender was dumbfounded by this.

"Y-you do?" Brian asked timidly.

Sheila nodded along with Claire.

"I do want to do stuff," Brian admitted, rubbing his neck. "I just never got the opportunity."

"Oh I'm sure there's some lovely dorkette out there that'll be happy to polish your knob," Bender teased.

Brian curled up, pressing his head into his knees, glancing briefly at Sheila. He was grateful to be told this.

"How 'bout you, Teacher's Pet?" Bender said.

Sheila's mouth dropped open. She figured the question was about to come up eventually, but not so soon. She felt like the odd one out. Claire and Brian were the only virgins. Bender was obviously not.

"Really? Is that any of your business?" she scoffed.

"Oh so you have no problem asking about Brian's business, but you and Claire are untouchable?" Bender challenged. "Hypocrite much?"

Another scoff. "If you're gonna ask about someone's personal life," Sheila argued. "It should be between two people and nobody else. Besides, you practically forced it out of Brian."

"Judging by your defensive stance, I'd say you're hiding something, Teacher's Pet."

"I'm not hiding anything," The Comedian insisted, her cheeks flushed.

"Would it help if we all said we're OK with you being a virgin?" Bender taunted.

"I'm not..."

Sheila froze, realizing her slip of the tongue. Shit! Bender had tricked her!

The criminal tilted his head like he was trying to hear better. "Sorry, what was that?" Bender teased.

Sheila went completely red, biting her lip and her head turned away. Bender could see the telltale signs of the juicy secret the new girl was obviously trying to hide.

"Oh!" Bender said with a laugh. "Ohhhh! Ladies and gentlemen, looks like we have a slut in our midst."

Sheila snorted. "And how can _you_ tell?"

"Well, given you're from Detroit, you're foul mouthed, and that saucy kiss you gave Dweeb here..."

"_That's_ your proof?" Sheila argued with disbelief.

"Well, if that's not proof, I'd say those rosy cheeks and that pink bitten lip speak loudly that you've gotten some business...and pleasure."

"Wow!" Sheila quipped, rolling her eyes. "Impressive slut detector you have, Johnny."

"Takes one to know one," Bender said smirking.

"Great!" Sheila said witty. "We should start a club. We can call it The Dirty Whores Club."

Bender laughed. Brian's mouth dropped open. Claire stared wide eyed.

"So...it's true?" Brian asked. "You've really done...it?"

Sheila turned bright red, nodding.

"Got any stories?" Bender asked, resting his chin on his fist.

"I don't want to hear it," Claire said disgusted.

"I do," Bender said.

Brian leaned forward, quite intrigued. Sheila blushed, thinking of her first time. Since the cat was already out of the bag, she might as well entertain.

"OK. So one time at band camp..." Sheila began.

"You learned how to fuck..." Bender interrupted.

"Shut up, Bender!" Sheila said. "Can you at least let me finish telling the story without being such a pig?"

"Go ahead, slut," he taunted.

Sheila rolled her eyes, then continued, "So my band mates decided to play Spin the Bottle. We waited until the counselors went to sleep. We set it up to play. When it was my turn, I had to make out with Artie Sandusky, a trumpet player from Milwaukee. He was a huge geek: pizza face and headgear braces. But he was very sweet..."

Brian listened with intense interest; his ears were red. Bender rolled his eyes in boredom, making a blah blah hand gesture.

"Blah, blah, blah," Bender interjected. "Get to the good part already!"

"Well, we went into the closet and kissed. Eventually, it got hot and heavy...then we ended up deflowering ourselves."

"Classic! Sex in a closet!" Bender chuckled with a salacious grin.

"What happened after that?" Claire asked.

"Well, it became the talk of the camp. The counselors were pissed off about the whole situation. They ended up calling my mom and Chris. So I got pulled out of band camp for good."

"Chris?" Brian asked arching an eyebrow. "That's your Dad?"

"Stepdad," Sheila corrected, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth.

"OH! Big Stepdaddy has a name. How very interesting," Bender said, resting his chin on his fist.

She looked down at her feet. The kids saw the expression on Sheila's face. She looked uncomfortable. The way she spoke about him with contempt.

"I still hate his guts," she said acidly.

"Why? Other than you've told us he's a ten times worse version of Dick," Bender asked.

"Because he's a poser."

"How?" Bender asked.

"What are you all talking about?" Andrew said.

The four of them turned around to see Andrew and the disheveled girl standing there with armfuls of Cokes.

"Sheila certainly has an interesting camp story," the dark haired girl said grinning.

Sheila face palmed. Great! Everyone knew she was a huge slut!

"What camp story?" Andrew asked.

"Sheila apparently nailed her band mate at camp," the dark haired girl summarized.

"Oh yea?" Andrew said with a grin. "How was it?"

"Well, considering we were in a tiny closet, my band mate drooled a lot, it was kind of uncomfortable," Sheila said blushing. "How 'bout you, Andy?"

"Hey...that's personal," he answered defensively.

"Is it? It wasn't so personal when you asked about my camp story."

"Sheila's got a point, Sporto," Bender added. "So in terms of baseball, how far would YOU say you've gotten?"

Andrew looked away. It was obvious he didn't really like talking about his sex life. Sure, he had done some things and bragged about it with the guys, but he wasn't really proud of it. It was mostly to impress the guys. His father told him he should focus more on his achievements than girls especially when there were meets, tournaments, and if scouts were attending.

"C'mon, Andy! You heard my camp story. Now your turn!" Sheila goaded.

"This is stupid!" Andrew exclaimed. "Didn't you just saying how shitty it was of Bender to be asking about Claire earlier?"

"Dude, you just asked me..." Sheila said, then imitated Andrew's voice with a stereotypical jock expression, " 'How was it?'"

"I don't sound like that!" the jock said, red in the cheeks.

Bender laughed. "You do. You sound like a cherry. Just like Dweeb."

"I'm not a..." Andrew said, then realized Bender had tricked him too. He clenched his jaw, turning away. "Dammit!"

"Ah! Now we know Sporto here has hit a home run!" Bender taunted.

"You fucking TRICKED me, you prick!" Andrew argued.

"HEY!" Vernon yelled. "Quit loitering around and get back to your seats! The half hour lunch starts now!"

The detainees went back to their seats to have lunch. Sheila grinned mischievously as she thought about a way to embarrass and get rid of Vernon.

The detainees went back to their seats to have lunch. Sheila grinned mischievously as she thought about a way to embarrass and get rid of Vernon. She loved making a fool out of this idiot of a man.

"Hey, Mr. Vernon!" Sheila said. "I know what I'm going to write my essay on, sir."

"Oh really, Donovan? What is it?" Vernon replied skeptically.

"I'm writing about what toys we played with as kids...they kind of define who we are." She added with a smirk. "So, have you ridden the hobby horse, sir?"

The detainees held in their laughter; Bender snorted the loudest as he heard his phrase being used. The vice principal stared with confusion. His gray eyes darted among the detainees.

"What?!" he said incredulously.

"Hey! It's cool if you played with toys, man!" Sheila said. "We all played with something as kids."

Judging by the detainees suppressed smiles and laughter, he glared at the Comedian. This could only mean she was up to her tricks again.

"You should work on your essay, Donovan," he said sternly. "Not your comedy routine."

"Actually, this IS part of the essay, sir," Sheila said. "You see, we were talking about what toys we played with as kids. Right, everyone."

The detainees nodded in agreement with the Comedian. This was very true indeed.

"So what'd you all play with?" Sheila asked the detainees, hoping they'd go along with her joke. "I climbed trees and played in the mud mostly."

"I played with dolls and jewelry," Claire said. "I even had a big dollhouse from Germany."

"Well, la di da, Queenie!" Bender said sarcastically.

"I played with footballs and baseballs," Andrew said, a slightly sarcastic smile on his face as he looked at Vernon.

"I played with action figures and read comic books." Brian said, running a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair.

"Nerd," Bender coughed into his hand, making Brian turn around with a glare.

The mystery girl in the back spoke lowly that nobody could hear her. She really didn't want to be part of the conversation, but she figured she'd try a little.

"Power tools, switchblades and cars," Bender asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Well...that leaves you, sir," Sheila said. "The question remains: have you ridden the hobby horse?"

The man shook his head, still completely confused over this. It was getting funnier as Sheila kept using the term 'hobby horse.'

Bender was turning red in the face. Brian was biting his lip so hard, looking down at the desk, so Vernon wouldn't see that goofy grin on his face. But every so often, he would glance up at the now embarrassed vice principal. Andrew clapped a hand over his mouth and was shaking uncontrollably. Claire pursed her lips together as the conversation continued so another giggle would slip from her lips. Even the mystery girl thought this was pretty amusing, leaving her to crack a small smile.

"My personal life is none of your business, Donovan," the vice principal replied. "I suggest you take your essay more seriously and quit making jokes."

The man turned on his heel and left; he kept shaking his head as he kept trying to figure out what the Smart Mouth was talking about. He still couldn't figure it out by the time he got to his office. He was completely embarrassed and confused over what just occurred.

Once the door closed, it exploded with laughter from the six detainees. Bender laughed loudly. Sheila's laugh was raucous and wild. Claire was laughing as well. Brian picked his head back up, and he began to laugh hysterically; his cheeks even turned a bit red from laughing. Andrew guffawed loudly. He held his stomach as he did, it began to hurt from laughing so much. The dark haired girl let out a small laugh too. She thought this was pretty funny.

"That man is a walking embarrassment," Bender said, laughing hysterically.

"Did you see his face?" Sheila laughed. "I bet he's still scratching his head." She made Vernon's confused face, scratching his head.

The detainees kept laughing as they could picture Vernon doing exactly that in his office at that moment.


	12. Lunchtime Revelations

Lunchtime had arrived. The detainees took out their lunches. Claire's was a fancy silver paper bag with handles, which contained a fancy black box and chopsticks. Andrew had a giant shopping bag that looked like it came straight out of the grocery store: it had a huge supply of food. The mystery girl in the back only had a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap, a handful of pixie sticks and cereal. Brian had a plain paper bag.

Sheila looked at her classmates lunches, then took out her Indiana Jones tin lunchbox: Harrison Ford as his iconic role with his signature fedora, shirt ripped open with a missing sleeve. The geek observed the redhead's lunchbox and made a note she was a fan of the action hero.

"Nice lunchbox," he said timid. "You like Indiana Jones?"

Sheila smiled. "Thank you," she replied. "I wanted to start the new school year with a new lunchbox. I picked it because it was either this one or Fraggle Rock."

"Good choice," Brian said with a nod of approval.

"Aside from his usual attire, Indy is pretty sexy for a teacher," Sheila said.

"College professor," he corrected. "He's a college professor of archaeology."

Sheila's face expressed surprise as she learned this. Then let out an embarrassed giggle. "Oh!" she said. "Good to know." After a beat, "I remember seeing _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ when it came out. It scared the shit outta me. I had nightmares for a month.

"It's definitely a good movie," he said.

"I heard there's another movie coming out soon. Maybe we can see a show together."

"T-together?" he stammered, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "You want to see a movie with me?"

Sheila nodded. "My treat. Maybe I won't be so scared next time."

"Y-yea. I'll have to ask my parents first."

"Same with my grandpa. Hopefully he'll lend me his car...provided if I get my chores done like take care of his chickens."

"Your grandpa has chickens?" Brian asked curious.

"Yea. He has a few of them," Sheila said. "It's a project he does since he retired. He'll sell eggs to his neighbors for a little bit of money as well. Honestly, I find them annoying and they stink, especially the rooster. He wakes me up at 4 AM in the morning and he attacks me. I nicknamed him Lucifer because he's a fuckin' devil."

"A devil? In the form of a chicken?"

"You'd be very surprised. Look at what that savage little asshole did to me yesterday," she said.

She propped her leg up on the desk, pulling up her pant leg; there were scratches and a few small puncture wounds. Brian winced at the sight of these wounds.

"Sounds like he must really hate you," he said.

"Weird thing is that he's cool with my grandpa. He said that it's probably because the rooster doesn't know me very well."

"Well, once you get to know each other better over time, it'll get better," he said with optimism. He decided to ask some questions. "So what else do you like...other than marveling over Indiana Jones?"

"Well...aside from my love of jokes, pranks and comedies," Sheila said. "I like comic books like Captain America, Wonder Woman..."

"Really?" Brian said lighting up. "What else?"

"I like _Star Trek_ and _The Twilight Zone_ as well."

Brian nearly fell out of his chair with excitement. He couldn't believe a girl would be interested in things like this! No girl he ever imagined would show the slight interest in sci fi or fantasy. He had so many questions.

"Ever play _Dungeons and Dragons_?" he asked.

"I have thought about giving it a try," she said. "I just never got around to it. Can you teach me?"

Brian nodded. "Sure." After a beat, he said, "Did I mention I'm in the Sci Fi club? It's kind of an exclusive group, but I can put in a word with the manager."

Sheila smiled. It was nice to be invited to social activities since she didn't know anyone at Shermer. While she had not much interest in clubs, it was nice to be included at a new school. Perhaps she could develop more interests at Shermer.

"Sure," Sheila said. "I'd like that."

Brian was about to open his mouth to ask another question when a voice whispered in Brian's ear, interrupted their conversation.

"So..." Bender teased. "Were you getting a preview of your dessert, Brian?"

Bender made kissing noises. Brian made an embarrassed hiccup and turned red, looking away. Sheila scoffed, annoyed by Bender's intrusion.

"Can we help you?" Sheila said, annoyed.

"Oh I'm so sorry you girls were having a moment," Bender quipped. "You two going to braid each other's hair?"

Another scoff from the red head as she began to unpack her lunch. Bender chuckled as he saw the redhead's lunchbox.

"Is that seriously Indiana Jones on your lunchbox, Teacher's Pet?" he taunted.

"And so what?" Sheila shot back.

"That's more proof you're a bigger dweeb than Brian here."

"And? So maybe I LIKE Harrison Ford. Did it ever occur to you that I might have interests other than stirring up shit."

Bender plopped himself lazily between Brian and Sheila, handing them Cokes. He grabbed Brian's lunch sack, looking it over.

"What are we having?" he asked.

"Just your standard, regular lunch, I guess..." Brian said humble.

"Where's yours?" Sheila asked with a frown.

"Don't have one," Bender said.

"You didn't bring a lunch?" the redhead replied incredulous.

Bender ignored the question and inspected the contents of Brian's lunch bag. He plopped a giant orange and yellow thermos on the desk.

"Milk?" Bender asked.

"Soup," Brian responded.

He went to reach for his lunch, only to get slapped away by Bender's gloved hand. Sheila rolled her eyes. It was BRIAN'S lunch. What gave Bender the right to pry through it like he owned it?

"Apple juice," Brian said when Bender examined a juice box.

"I can read," Bender retorted.

He continued to examine the rest of Brian's lunch.

"PB and J with the crusts cut off. Well, Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch...all the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?"

"Uh...no, Mr. Johnson."

Sheila leaned against her fist, looking at the geek.

"What's your life like at home, Brian?" Sheila asked.

"Are you kidding? It must be like a 1950s sitcom over at the Johnson residence," Bender answered.

"Not quite..." Brian said.

"Yea. OK." said Bender cynical.

"I'm serious. My life is no picnic."

"Here's what I imagine Life at Big Bri's House..."

Bender stood up and began to do a skit of what he imagined Brian's family as a 1950s sitcom. Even giving Brian dimples in his cheeks. Brian watched. He only wished his home life was like that. When Bender finished, Brian swallowed a lump in his throat and lowered his head, humiliated.

"And the winner for Asshole of the Year award goes to..." Sheila announced like she was on an awards show. Then pantomimed opening an envelope, then gasped in surprise as she read it, "John Bender for his performance of "Days of Our Family Life". YAY!"

She did an impression of a crowd cheering. The other detainees sniggered as the Comedian ridiculed the criminal. Brian felt a little better, mildly grateful that someone stuck up for him. Bender just made a mock surprised expression.

"Oh! I am so touched!" Bender quipped, pretending to cry joyfully. "I am so honored to win this award." He pretended to accept a trophy. "I would like to thank everyone for being so inspirational!"

The criminal studied the comedian intensely. While he had gotten her to accidentally reveal that she was a slut, the one thing he couldn't get out of her was about her home life. He made careful notes on how she would react when the subject was brought up. She got angry at any mention of her stepfather and uncomfortable when the subject of her father came up. He decided to push her buttons.

"So what's your home life like, Teacher's Pet?" he asked.

"Why? Are you going to do another skit?" Sheila retorted.

"Sure! I can do one of your family." He said, then commenced the skit. "Today's episode of Life of Sheila: The Child of Divorce."

Bender stood up and imitated her mother, "Darling! Time to go to your father's!"

Then imitated Sheila, "Oh cool! I can't wait to spend the weekend with Daddy!"

Then imitated her stepfather, "You have such a cool Daddy, Sheila. It's GREAT we are such pals, willing to share you and be your daddies!"

Then imitated her father in a deep jolly voice, "Hiya, princess! What would you like to do today? Get some ice cream? Go shopping?"

"Oh YES, Daddy! I would LOVE that!" Bender said in Sheila's voice.

Sheila let out a derisive laugh. "Wow! Sounds like a dream come true! I only WISH that were true!"

"Oh yea? Show me!" Bender challenged.

"What about your family?" Sheila deflected.

"Show me yours. I'll show you mine," Bender challenged, crossing his arms.

Sheila got up out of her seat. She pretended to be running in place. Then imitated her stepfather, the Army drill sergeant douche bag poser.

"MOVE THOSE LEGS, DONOVAN!" she shouted in his voice. "You're not gonna be a lazy bum like that deadbeat, Irish bug of a father of yours! Then you're gonna do 60 push-ups for forgetting to take the garbage out! Next, you're gonna go upstairs and clean that PIGSTY you call a room! I wanna see hospital corners on your bed!"

Soon, she pantomimed her mother coming home from work. "I'm home!" she chimed in her mother's voice.

Then Sheila switched to fake Chris, "Oh! Hello, dear! Sheila and I had a very productive day. She did all her chores on time. Right, Sheils?" She imitated Chris shooting her a dirty look as if to silently tell her to go along with it.

"Oh yes!" Sheila said as herself, plastering a fake smile. "We had a great day, Mom!"

"Oh Chris!" she said, switching to her mother, fawning over her beloved, god of a husband. "You are so sweet!"

Then pantomimed her mother hugging him, then switched to her stepdad, facing her...making the shh expression and then a throat slitting gesture while he hugged her mother.

The library was quiet as the detainees watched the Comedian show her home life. Even Bender was taken aback by this. Sheila crossed her arms, glaring at the criminal.

"You happy now?" Sheila said. "I showed you mine. Now you show me yours."

"Oh mine? That's real easy..." Bender answered.

Bender stood up and launched into a skit by doing an impression of his father laying into him.

"Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn freeloadin' son of a bitch!" Bender said, pointing a finger. "Big mouth, know-it-all asshole jerk!"

Then switched to his mother. "You forgot lazy, ugly, and disrespectful..."

Then his father slapped his mother. "Shut up, bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie."

Then Bender shifted back and forth playing himself and his father.

"What about you, Dad?"

"Fuck you..."

"No, Dad. What about you!"

"Fuck you!"

"No, DAD! WHAT ABOUT YOU?!"

"FUCK YOU!"

Then he mimicked his father beating him. There was an uneasy quiet in the library as everyone realized how worse the delinquent's life was.

"Is that for real?" Brian asked.

"Wanna come over sometime?" Bender offered.

"That's bullshit!" said Andrew with a scoff. "It's all part of your image. I don't believe one word of it."

Sheila had listened to Bender's demonstration about his family. She had no doubt in her mind this was real. She dealt with this kind of abuse at her home with her stepfather. Maybe not as physical as Bender's, but his constant belittlement, his barking orders at her, his insistence of perfection like the Army way. She glared at Andrew.

"Andy, I think Bender's telling the truth," Sheila said.

"Well, I don't buy it," Andrew argued.

"Did you believe me when I said what I said?" Sheila questioned.

"I don't believe a word of it unless there's proof."

Sheila glared at Andrew. "So you wouldn't believe either of us?" she said. "Our word isn't good enough?"

"So you're saying you don't believe me?" Bender added frowning.

"No."

"No?"

"Did I stutter?"

Bender looked like he was about to explode. He strode up to Andrew and pulled up his sleeve to reveal a circular-shaped burn on his arm. Claire glanced over at the scar, then lowered her head with pity. Brian stared wide eyed with horror. Sheila did too, clapping a hand to her mouth. Here she was, bitching about her stupid life at her house, having no fucking clue that Bender's life was worse.

"Do you believe this?! Huh? It's about the size of a cigar...do I stutter?" Bender snarled, thrusting his arm into Andrew's face.

The jock glanced at it for a moment, then flinched and turned away as the criminal got in his face, feeling uncomfortable at the sight of it.

"See, this is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage."

After a beat, he moved to the back of the room.

"Y'see, I don't think...that I need to sit with you FUCKIN' dildos any longer!" he spat, throwing his hands up in the air.

Bender headed towards a book-covered table in the back and threw the books onto the floor in a rage, then jumped onto the table and grabbed the railing on the stairs to the second floor. He pulled himself up and took a seat on the landing of the stairs, facing away from everyone.

"You shouldn't have said that," Claire scolded.

"And how did I know?" Andrew reasoned weakly, yet remorseful. "I mean, he lies about everything anyway."

"Y'know, Andy, I used to think Bender was an asshole," Sheila said disgusted. "But you just proved you're a bigger one."

Sheila got up and went up towards Bender with her lunch. After hearing about his home life and how he told her he had no lunch, she felt sorry for him. Everyone watched the red haired comedian approached Bender.

She could hear sniffling and heavy breathing coming from the criminal. She sat down on the step above the landing, seeing his dark eyes were wet with tears. Bender glanced over to see the Teacher's Pet, sitting next to him. Embarrassed that he had been crying (or at least, trying not to), he swiped away his tears quickly. He glared at Sheila.

"What do you want, Teacher's Pet?" he snarled, sniffling.

Sheila shrugged quietly.

"Just beat it, Teacher's Pet!" he said gruffly. "I want to be alone."

"Bullshit! Nobody does," Sheila argued.

"Well,_ I_ do. Fuck off, you ginger Amazon!"

"No!" Sheila answered, ignoring his lame insult.

"No?" Bender exclaimed in disbelief that the girl remained unmoved.

"Did I stutter?"

Bender frowned, annoyed by Sheila's unwillingness to leave. He fired a few more insults in hopes it would make her go away.

"I said FUCK _OFF_, you fire bush twat!" he raised his voice.

"Make me!" she challenged, crossing her arms.

Bender scoffed with disbelief. This bitch was so annoying and he was too exhausted to fight her after throwing a rage filled paroxysm when Andrew dismissed him.

"Stubborn bitch!" he spat.

"So I've been told," Sheila retorted, still unaffected by his insults. "Are you hungry?"

Bender was cynical. He wasn't used to kindness. He was regarded by others as this juvenile delinquent with no feelings. Someone who disregarded the rules and disrespected authority.

Why would some lame Teacher's Pet offer him food? Usually he got food by trading, stealing it from the cafeteria or store, out of the trash or simple threats to the weaker kids. Nobody gave it to him willingly. Why would she give him her food? Did she want something? Did she feel sorry for him? Sensing these were all the reasons, he put up his tough guy act.

"I don't want your pity," he replied.

"Kindness isn't pity," Sheila said. "Try being a little more open to it sometime. Are you hungry or not?"

While Bender was used to going without food, his stomach growled painfully. He was in no position to refuse. He looked at the turkey sandwich and chips hungrily that was in the redhead's lunch. She carefully divided it up so they could share it equally. Sheila looked at Bender, offering her food out with an extended hand.

Bender stared at the redhead. The green eyes that shone with understanding. A seemingly permanent smirk on her lips. The freckled face that expressed kindness, despite her argumentative and stubborn nature. A girl who was equally hurt as he. While he could hide his scars under his clothes, she hid hers with a mask of comedy, sarcasm and deflection.

He had so many questions. Why, of all people, would the Teacher's Pet want to sit with him at lunch? Why did she believe his home life, but nobody else did? While he sure as hell didn't believe anything that Sheila had said about hers, she was the only one who believed his. She stood up to Andrew when he shot down his credibility. Swallowing his pride, he softened his stance and accepted the food.

"Yea. I could eat," he said softly.

He hungrily bit into the turkey sandwich. While it was delicious, he was disappointed to find it was plain.

"What? No mayo?" he said with a frown.

"Blame my grandfather," Sheila said with a shrug. "He doesn't believe in condiments."

"Condiments aren't like God. You don't really have a choice to believe in them or not."

A snigger came from the redhead. "No. He thinks they're a luxury."

The criminal shook his head, continuing to eat the sandwich. Then began to eat the chips, sipping the coke in between.

"How come you didn't bring any lunch?" Sheila asked, after sipping her Coke.

"Outta cash," Bender said, wiping a bit of crumbs off his lip. "Besides I'd rather spend it on other things."

"Such as?" Sheila asked, flicking a strand of hair out of her eye.

"Extracurricular activities," he answered with a smirk.

"You mean the Physics Club?" she said sarcastically.

Bender laughed. "No."

"So what are you talking about?"

"What else? Sex, drugs and rock n roll."

Sheila shook her head with a small laugh. "Figured."

"What are you into?"

"I like rock music. Joan Jett, to be specific."

The delinquent nodded with approval. "Nice. Maybe I'll sneak you into a show someday."

"Really?" Sheila said, feeling a flutter of excitement to see her idol.

"If you pay me."

Sheila half laughed and scoffed. The delinquent was unbelievable. She should've know he would say something like this.

Then he became serious. "So what really made you come over here?" he asked.

Sheila shrugged. "Your story...it really got to me. Is it really that bad at home?"

"It's not awesome," Bender answered with a frown.

"How can you live like that?" Sheila asked sad.

"Don't have much of a choice," Bender answered with a shrug.

"I'm sorry, Bender. That really sucks."

"Yea. Well...gotta play the cards you're dealt," he said dismissive. "So...is that how it really is at Fort Donovan?"

Sheila wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about her life. Given Bender was an asshole, she kinda could understand how he felt. She could ignore the ragged clothes and scent of body odor, motor oil, cigarettes and dope. She saw a scared little boy in those dark eyes who tried hide his fear and vulnerability with that tough guy image. He was like a dog that had been beaten in the street and was scared of the first act of kindness offered.

"My grandpa is strict," she said. "Other than that, my parents and stepdad are fucked up in their own way."

Bender leaned forward with interest. He noted she hated her stepdad with a passion. He sounded like a real asshole from what she described in her little skit.

"Is your stepdad really like that?" he asked.

"Yes, he is," Sheila said.

"What's his deal anyway? Dick seems to be kissing his ass."

"Like I said, he's a ten times worse version of Dick. That's all I wish to say."

"Sounds like Big StepDaddy is a long lost brother of Dick."

"Perhaps. Or a clone of himself."

Bender laughed. "Do you get along with your mom?"

"She's...fine and all," Sheila said uncomfortable. "But I think she's not there at all. She's too in love with Chris to see any problems with him. She acts like he's this fucking god."

"Why'd she marry Big Stepdaddy anyway?" Bender asked.

"I think it was for money," Sheila said.

"Ah. Mommy's a gold digger?"

"You _could_ say that, but not exactly. Chris makes decent money, but not enough to live luxuriously. And she still goes to work."

"And your old man?"

Sheila shrugged. That was a subject she didn't want to share with Bender. She didn't trust him enough. It was painful. She feared he would mock her and use it against her later.

"Haven't seen him when I was 10." she answered nonchalant.

Bender looked at the redhead; it was pretty obvious she was trying to conceal her feelings about her father. While they shared a similar hatred for their abusive male parents (his was physical, hers was emotional), she still wouldn't open up about this. He guessed he left.

"Well, your family sounds like shit," he said.

"They ARE shit," Sheila echoed bitterly.

After a beat, the criminal looked away for a moment and then back.

"Listen, thanks for the food. I appreciate it...I guess."

Sheila chuckled. "Don't mention it."

For all his bluster, Sheila could tell Bender was genuinely touched. The two of them sat together and finished eating their lunch.


	13. Field Trip

**12:50 PM**

The post-lunch malaise began to set in. Sheila had returned to her original seat next to Brian. He had watched the entire scene between the criminal and the comedian. How she sat with him for the rest of the lunch break. He was a little hurt over this, watching the two of them sitting on the steps, talking. He had to admit he was jealous. All the girls preferred the bad boys. They ignored, befriended or teased the good ones. Bender had charisma that attracted girls.

He noted Sheila's compassionate side. She shared her lunch with Bender out of the fact that he had none. Despite the two of them tried to one-up another or argued a lot, she was caring and kind.

"Everything OK with you and Bender?" he began.

"Sure," said Sheila. "He's still an annoying asshole."

"What'd you talk about?"

The redhead shrugged. "Not much. Just families and shit."

"Is your stepfather really that terrible?" he asked.

Sheila looked around and gestured to a more quieter part of the library. Brian took the hint and got up from his desk, going to a more quieter part of the library. Honestly, he was nervous about what Sheila was going to tell him. Given she had shared very intimate parts of her life with him, he worried about whether or not he would give her the wrong advice. Still it was worth a shot. She sat on the floor, hugging her knees and looked down at her black Converses. Brian sat across from her, leaning against the shelf.

"You know how I told everyone my stepfather is a ten times worse version of Vernon, right?" she began.

"Yea," he said, tilting his head. "Why?"

"Well...take that image of Vernon and put him in a US Army drill sergeant's uniform. That's my stepfather in a nutshell."

The geek's eyes widened at the thought of Vernon being just as she described. So that's why she didn't want to talk about him. The man was a military serviceman.

"That's a pretty bad image," he said.

"He treats me like I'm one of his cadets at work," Sheila said. "One rule broken and I have to go on five mile runs, do calisthenics, scrub garbage cans, do kitchen duty. Even his chores are rigid: he insists that I make my bed with HOSPITAL corners, can you believe that?!"

"Sounds like Vernon if he ever had kids...or grandkids, for that matter," Brian said.

"I can't imagine Dick having kids," Sheila said. "Let alone a wife or a girlfriend. I don't think anyone would touch that man with a 10 foot pole."

Sighing, she looked at Brian.

"Does your mom know about any of this?" he asked. "How he treats you and all?"

"Chris lies to her about me all the time, as you can tell from the skit. He pretends to be loving and caring, but really he's a lying, manipulative poser asshole. And I can't prove it either."

"Not even with a camera?" he said innocently.

"Honestly, I don't think it would matter if I had proof or not," Sheila said. "I think she's so in love with him because she wanted money and status. She was unhappy when she was married to my Dad because he was unemployed. But along comes this douche bag with a uniform and a job, she jumps at the chance and marries the dude."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," she said. "I'm just happy to be away from my shithead stepfather. I'm glad to be living with my grandpa. He might be a pain in the ass, but at least he cares about me."

"At least you only have to deal with devil roosters," Brian joked.

"Believe me, I'd rather take on crazy roosters than my stepfather," she said with a laugh. Then paused for a moment. "You don't think I'm some spoiled Army brat, do you?"

"No. I think it sounds like your stepdad is a bully who's torturing you."

"Good. Because everyone treats me differently when they find out who he is," Sheila said. "He thinks because he's a serviceman that he deserves respect from everyone."

While he had heard some intimate details about Sheila's life, Brian figured he'd share a few details about his home life in order to bring her at ease. Maybe she would open up more.

"My Dad works a lot," Brian said. "I feel like he never wants to spend time with me."

Sheila looked over sympathetically. "My mom is just the same. She goes to work in the morning, then comes home around dinnertime. Sometimes she would go to work in the evening."

The two of them looked at each other. They certainly shared something in common. Two absent parents who worked all the time.

"And your mom?" she asked.

"She's strict..." he said.

Eventually, Bender slid out of his seat and jumped to his feet, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"I say we blow this pop stand," he announced.

Brian and Sheila heard this announcement and decided to find out what Bender was up to.

"Mr. Vernon said we shouldn't leave the library," Brian said nervously.

"Well, I need to stretch my legs," Bender answered.

The delinquent marched over to the front of the library and listened at the door for a few seconds.

"Who's up for a field trip?" he announced.

"Where are you gonna go?" Claire asked.

"I gotta get something from my locker," Bender said evasively.

"What?" Andrew asked suspiciously.

A smirk spread on the delinquent's face. "It's a surprise," he said.

Sheila arched an eyebrow. Even she was skeptical about this 'surprise'. "Is this a 'yay, i feel so good to be a part of this' kind of surprise or 'I can't believe I'm getting involved with this shit' kind of surprise?" she asked.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," Bender said. "So, who's in?"

It seemed none of the detainees wanted to go at first. Sheila had to admit she was bored being stuck in the library all day. She stood up first.

"Sure! I could use a walk," Sheila said.

Her classmates looked at her with disbelief that she would even agree to do something like this.

"Are you serious?" Claire said surprised.

"Aren't you bored?" Sheila asked straightforward.

"Alright! Everyone here paying attention?" Bender announced.

"What if we get caught?" Brian asked nervously.

"Depends on what we get caught doing," Sheila said, feeling excited about this field trip.

"If we get caught, we'll get suspended," Brian babbled, getting more nervous. "Or worse...we could get expelled. I can't get expelled! I can't be expelled!"

Seeing the geek was having a panic attack, Sheila had to think fast as a way to calm him down. She turned on the charm.

"You sure are cute when you get nervous!" Sheila said, giving a coy smile.

Brian instantly shut up upon hearing this, blushing. "R-really?"

"Mm-hmm," she said.

"Well, good..." he said. "Because that's most of the time."

The mystery girl got up and went to Bender. Claire bit her lip and joined the group. They eyed the two remaining detainees. Andrew shook his head, giving in to the peer pressure.

"Dammit!" Andrew cursed under his breath.

Only Brian was left. The criminal cracked a smile as he saw the geek sitting alone.

"That leaves you, Wonder Worm," Bender said. "Ready to blossom into a butterfly?"

"Actually, it's caterpillars that turn into butterflies," Brian corrected.

"Well then, Captain Caterpillar," Bender quipped. "Ready to grow some balls?"

Brian looked down, knowing it's the wrong thing to do, but decided to join the rest of the detainees. Bender flipped up his collar, opened the door slowly and checked down the hallway and Vernon's office.

"Dick's gone," he said, giving the all clear.

Then disappeared out of sight. The rest of the detainees followed in suit cautiously. Bender strutted down the empty hallway with Claire walking with him. Brian with Andrew. Sheila with the mystery girl in the back.

"How do you know where Vernon went?" Claire asked.

"I don't," Bender answered.

"Well, then, how do you know when he'll be back?"

"I don't." Then Bender smirked, "Being bad feels pretty good, huh?"

Claire was unnerved, yet intrigued about where this field trip was going.

While they walked down the halls silently, Sheila glanced over at the disheveled girl. She felt terrible for ignoring her this whole time during detention; they only exchanged a few brief words in the restroom earlier.

"Um...hey..." she said. "I didn't get your name."

The basket case looked at Sheila with dark eyes, hidden by her hair. She didn't say anything. Sheila frowned slightly. It was kind of uncomfortable to have a conversation with someone who didn't talk very much. She couldn't think of anything else to say to her. Maybe her questions were making the girl uncomfortable.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want," Sheila said. "You're probably pissed that I was ignoring you this whole time. I know I would be too."

"Allison," she answered.

Sheila nodded. "Nice to meet you," she said.

"I wanted that knife, y'know," Allison said.

"Why?" Sheila asked.

"Why does it matter? You couldn't ditch it fast enough because you were too busy losing your shit over closing it. I would've hidden it by now."

"What if Vernon walked in?" Sheila asked.

Allison shrugged. The redhead glanced up ahead to the front of the group.

"Can't say Bender keeps things interesting," Sheila commented.

Allison stayed quiet. Sheila shrugged and walked in uncomfortable silence, putting her hands in her pockets.

"What's the point of going to Bender's locker?" Brian asked, looking nervously at Andrew.

"Beats me," Andrew said.

"This is so stupid! What do you think...w-why are we risking getting caught?"

"I dunno."

"So then...what are we doing?" Brian was starting to panic.

"You ask one more question and I'm beating the shit out of you," Andrew said irritated.

"Sorry," he apologized softly.

Soon, Bender held up his fist, signalling everyone to halt in front of an open door. They heard Vernon yelling inside. Taking a quick peek, Bender found it was the faculty lounge. Vernon was yelling and pounding on the vending machine.

"C'mon!" he yelled. "I know you're in there!"

Each of them took turns to sneak past a distracted Vernon.

"C'mon! C'MON! My money's good, goddammit! I got one luxury in this world! ONE LUXURY!"

Sheila watched as Allison went by next, stood there and gave him the finger.

"She's nuts, but she's cool," Claire said.

Soon it was Sheila's turn. She looked scared. Her classmates looked scared too. She waited until she heard the clink from the vending machine that distracted Vernon and hopped over to the other side of the open door, evading him. Her heart was pounding.

Whew!

The detainees stopped by a row of orange lockers. Bender went to one that had a noose sticking out of the top. There was permanent marker on it that said: OPEN THIS LOCKER AND YOU DIE! He opened his locker and an actual guillotine came slicing down, chopping one of his gym sneakers in half. Bender rifled around the piles of moldy food and stinky clothes.

"You're such a slob," Andrew said disgusted.

"Maid on vacation?" Sheila joked, wrinkling her nose a little bit from the stench.

"Nah," Bender laughed. "I'd rather spend my money on this..."

Bender grabbed a large stained paper bag and pulled out a smaller paper bag, which inside contained an even smaller paper bag. Inside the last paper bag was a small plastic bag, which had something inside that looked like oregano. Claire looked over Bender's shoulder.

"Is that what I think it is?" Claire whispered.

"Yup," Sheila answered affirmatively.

Brian leaned forward, looking curiously and then sniffed. His eyes widened.

"Drugs!" he exclaimed.

"Screw that, Bender! Put it back!" Andrew said frowning.

Brian clapped a hand over his shocked mouth. "The boy has marijuana. That was marijuana!" he gasped.

Claire and Andrew walked by him, ignoring the panicking geek.

"Shut up," Andrew muttered.

Brian looked at Sheila and Allison. "Do you approve of this?" he asked.

"It's Bender's shit," Sheila answered. "He can do whatever he wants. It's none of my business."

Brian shook his head. Allison just stared silently. They heard footsteps echoing down the hall.

"That must be Vernon," Sheila whispered. "We should go."

"Put it back, Bender!" Andrew demanded.

"Too late," Bender said, slamming the locker shut.

He walked away from the lockers with the rest of the detainees following behind.

"We'll cross through the lab," Bender instructed. "Then we'll double back."

"You better be right," Andrew said. "If Vernon cuts us off, it's all your fault, asshole."

Brian strained to hear what Bender said. His blue eyes darted around nervously.

"What did he say?" Brian asked. "Where are we going?"

Claire shrugged, ignoring him. Brian looked at Sheila.

"Aren't you worried what Vernon will do if he catches us?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Brian was having a panic attack and began babbling about all the possibilities of getting caught with drugs.

"Forget being expelled," he said in a quavering voice. "We're going straight to juvie!"

"Someone shut him up!" he hissed. "We're gonna get caught!"

Sheila's mind drew a blank as she listened to the geek's scared prattling. She had to figure out a way to shut him up otherwise Vernon would hear them. Feeling impulsive, she grabbed Brian's face and kissed him.

"If you stay quiet," Sheila said, looking into his blue eyes. "You can have more of that when we get back."

Brian blushed heavily, tugging on the collar of his shirt. He couldn't believe it. He was going to get more! He was excited about the prospect of finding out what it would be like. He did stay silent after hearing such a promise.

"Wow, Teacher's Pet," Bender said. "You sure know how to shut Dweeb up. I guess being a slut has some perks."

Sheila rolled her eyes.

Just as they were about to turn the corner, they spotted Vernon heading back to the library! The gang ran as fast as they could, going down each corridor, nearly running into Vernon. Thankfully his back was turned at every twist and turn. The gang jogged down the hallways to get away from the unsuspecting vice principal. They went down some stairs and then they stopped short.

"Wait!" Bender said, pointing to one hall. "We have to go through the cafeteria!"

"No!" Andrew argued, pointing to the opposite hall. "The activities hall!"

"Hey, man! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"No. YOU don't know what you're talking about!"

Allison squealed with anxiety. Sheila groaned, rolling her eyes. Of all the fucking times they had to argue!

"Bender seems to know what he's talking about," Sheila interjected.

"Shut up! You just got here!" Andrew snapped. Then he turned to Bender. "We're through listening to you! We're going this way!"

Andrew ran down the hall with the others in tow. Bender groaned, reluctantly taking off after the group. Everyone rushed down a flight of stairs and a long hall. They turned into a corner...

...only to find a gated hallway!

"Shit!" growled Bender, slamming his fist against the bars.

"Great idea, jack off!" Sheila said angrily. "Told you we should have listened to Bender!"

"Fuck you!" Andrew spat.

"Fuck YOU! Why didn't you listen to John?!" Claire argued.

"We're dead," Brian moaned hopelessly.

"No. Just me," Bender said. "Get back to the library."

Bender stuffed the plastic bag into Brian's underwear, making him squirm and blush.

"If you get caught, you'll be expelled," Sheila said.

"Well, like Sporto said," Bender pointed out. "If I disappeared forever, it wouldn't make a difference. And someone's gotta take the heat for this...or we all will."

"So you're gonna try and be the hero?" Andrew retorted.

"Believe me, I would _love_ it if one of you dipsticks grew some balls and stepped up to the plate," Bender fired back.

He looked at each of the detainees, who avoided his gaze. Sheila had an inkling nobody was going to step up and take the fall. Given the number of times Bender had covered for her, she decided it was her turn.

"I'll go," she volunteered.

"What?!" Andrew and Brian exclaimed.

"Are you insane, Sheila?" Claire said.

"Bender's done a lot of shit for me," she answered. "This would make us even."

Bender looked relieved to hear Sheila speak up.

"Guess I'll owe you one now, Teacher's Pet," Bender said appreciatively.

"Sure thing, dude..." Sheila said.

"Wait, Sheila!" Brian said worried. "Are you sure you want to do this? You'll get expelled."

"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I'll handle Hurricane Vernon. Now go!"

Sheila sprinted down the hallway, banging on the locker padlocks along the way. She chanted an obscene Army cadence as loudly as she could.

_I don't know, but I've been told/__Eskimo pussy's really cold_

_I don't know, but it's been said/__Eskimo dicks are blue, not red_

Mr. Vernon heard a distant female voice echoing in the empty halls. He slowed down in his tracks, his mouth dropped open.

"Son of a...BITCH!" Vernon seethed.

He took off running, following the echoing voice. Sheila chanted a few more Army cadences, making up a few vulgar ones, shouting as loud as she could, pounding on the lockers...

...until a breathless, pissed off Vernon caught up to her.

"DONOVAN!" he yelled furiously. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Practicing Army cadence," Sheila quipped, making a Benny Hill salute with a goofy face. "I'm thinking about joining. Gotta stay in shape if I want to get in."

Vernon grabbed the red haired miscreant by the collar and frog marched her to the library. He was breathing like an angry bull. His gray eyes were burning with anger. He was through with this defiant teen's antics.

While she was nervous about the punishment she was going to get from Vernon, it gave her peace of mind that her classmates were safe back in the library like they had never left.


	14. Hurricane Vernon

Meanwhile, Bender led the remaining detainees back to the library after the daring sacrifice Sheila made in order for them to get away from Vernon.

"Your girlfriend is nuts, Dweeb," Bender said, shaking his head.

"G-girlfriend?" Brian wondered.

Andrew face palmed at his naivety. Claire looked at Brian with sympathy, knowing he didn't understand Bender's obvious quip.

"That was sarcasm, Brian," Claire explained.

"Well, Teacher's Pet has kissed him once before," Bender pointed out. "And she kissed him again, promising him more afterwards."

"Bender, just shut up!" Claire said. "Brian is confused enough already. Don't give him the wrong idea."

"But, MOM!" Bender whined like a child.

"NO!" Claire said firmly. "You shouldn't do that to someone. This should be between Sheila and Brian. THEY can decide what THEY want to do."

"Yes, Mom!" Bender quipped sarcastically.

He opened the door to the library to let them back in. The five of them went back to their seats, the buzz of adrenaline was still lingering after that risky field trip they took into the empty halls and narrowly escaping Vernon. Claire walked up to Brian in hopes to council him since he was really confused.

"Don't listen to Bender, Brian," Claire said. "Sheila wouldn't take advantage of you. She knows better than to do that."

"Yea. All Bender knows is nothing BUT sex," Andrew said in agreement. "And criminal activity."

"Well, Teacher's Pet has proven that," Bender pointed out. "She just kissed him out of the blue...TWICE!"

Claire frowned. Bender did have a point, unfortunately.

"Well, regardless," Claire said. "I think Sheila has enough respect for you to not do that."

"O-OK," the geek responded uncomfortably, playing with his shirt sleeve.

The five of them sat down. Brian looked at the empty seat where Sheila once sat. He was worried what happened to her.

"Do you think Sheila's OK?" Brian asked.

"Oh I'm sure Dick caught up with her already," Bender said. "And she's probably getting Dick's panties in a bunch with her antics."

It was at that very moment, the door was flung open, making all five of them flinch. There was a very pissed off Vernon with a very sweaty, breathless, yet defiant Sheila being frog marched into the library. He shoved her towards the desks roughly.

"Get your stuff! Let's go!" he growled; anger clawing his throat.

"Hey! Where's your manners, Dick?" Bender exclaimed. "Manhandling ladies is not very nice!"

"Keep it up, Bender," Vernon warned. "Or you'll be joining Donovan."

"Keep treating ladies like that, Dick, and _you're_ gonna be alone for the rest of your life," Sheila said harshly.

The faces on her classmates were shocked. Even Vernon was taken aback by this savage comment.

"Whoa! Harsh," Bender said.

"Just get your stuff, Donovan," Vernon said, trying to remain calm.

Sheila began to pack up her things. Brian looked sadly at her. She shrugged nonchalant.

"Miss Comedian will be spending detention elsewhere," Vernon announced to the rest of the detainees. "I'm sorry to inform you that you're going to be without her services for the rest of the day."

"Awww. A time out?" Sheila quipped, pouting like a child. "Are you gonna spank me too, Dick?"

The detainees held in their laughter. Bender actually laughed.

"You think she's funny, huh?" Vernon snapped harshly. "You think she's real cute? You think she's bitchin', is that it?!"

Everyone stopped laughing, looking down at their desks. Except Bender.

"Look at her!" Vernon said, jabbing a finger at Sheila. "She's a pathetic clown...who got kicked out of her last school."

"Now hold on a minute..." Andrew began, sensing where this was going.

"Andy, just DON'T!" Sheila warned as if to tell him 'don't push it'; she knew how pissed off Vernon was and he didn't need to fan the flames.

"That's good you're learning your lesson, Donovan," Vernon replied. "You should be grateful for my generosity to let you stay here at Shermer. I'd hate to have to expel you after that little stunt you pulled at your last school."

Sheila swallowed. She had to admit she was scared about that possibility. She hated to disappoint her grandfather too. He could actually see the teenager was scared. Good.

"Hey! Knock it off, Dick!" Bender exclaimed. "I think you've done enough!"

"That's IT, Bender!" Vernon said angrily. "Get your stuff too! I'm through with your shit!"

"B-O-O H-O-O," he said sarcastically, gathering up his things.

"Everything's a big joke to you, isn't it, Bender?" Vernon snarled.

"Mostly you are, Dick," Sheila responded flippant, feeling her confidence coming back up.

"You wanna hear a joke, Donovan? Here's one about your so-called 'friend', Bender," Vernon responded angrily. "This 'role model' you look up to...pulled a false fire alarm yesterday. Isn't that funny?"

Sheila glanced at the criminal with a look of bewilderment. That would explain why he was in detention. While she couldn't say she was surprised Bender would do that, she honestly didn't find that funny at all.

Vernon turned his attention to Bender.

"False alarms are_ really_ funny, aren't they, Bender?" Vernon continued. After a beat, he pointed his fingers as if to emphasize his point. "What if your home? What if your family..."

He paused, knowing Bender probably didn't give a shit about his family, switching to something he knew Bender liked other than cutting classes and getting detention.

"What if your dope was on fire?" he said.

"Impossible, sir," Bender responded flippant. "It's in Johnson's underwear."

Brian's face went white and his eyes widened with fear upon hearing this. Sheila snorted with laughter.

"You think he's a real funny guy?" Vernon snapped. "Let me tell you something, Donovan..." then jabbed a finger at Bender. "Look at him! He's a bum."

Sheila looked at Bender. She saw how hurt he looked. When she heard the word 'bum', it brought back all the times Chris called her own father this word. Mostly he used the words 'deadbeat' or 'Irish bug' to describe her beloved old man. It felt like a kick in the gut. She felt a lump in her throat as she heard Vernon's words.

"You want to see something funny?" Vernon continued harshly. "Go visit John Bender in five years! You'll see how goddamn funny he is!"

The detainees sat there in silence, watching Vernon lay it out in front of Sheila and Bender.

"So, you go ahead and keep acting like a clown, Donovan!" Vernon said, then jabbed a finger at Bender, "Because THAT'S your future sitting right there! That's where you're going to end up!"

Sheila felt the lump harden in her throat. Her lips thinned as if she were resisting the urge to cry. Tears began to prick her eyes. She lowered her head, hoping her hair would hide her face.

The man approached her with a cruel smile. He was pleased to see he had managed to break her.

"Not so funny, is it, Donovan?" he sneered.

Sheila couldn't even look up. She only shook her head in silence. She couldn't even defend herself. Words failed her. Vernon had won this round. Her classmates looked at how defeated the fiery redhead was. Brian looked like he wanted to say something, but he was too afraid of Vernon.

Vernon turned his attention to Bender, squatting to his level with his lips curled into a smirk. He saw how wounded he was and decided to add insult to his injury.

"What's the matter, John?" the man taunted. "You gonna cry?"

Sheila wanted to defend Bender, but she couldn't. She felt guilty for not sticking up for him this time. Her words were stuck in her throat.

"Let's go!" Vernon ordered between his clenched teeth, grabbing the delinquent's arm.

Immediately, Bender shot up from his chair, jerking his arm out of the man's grip.

"Hey, keep your _fuckin'_ hands off me!" he snarled. "I expect better manners from you, Dick."

The criminal slid past the tall man, striding towards the library doors. Vernon gestured to Sheila to follow as well. She shifted her backpack on her back, hugging her Army jacket. She kept her head down, following Vernon. Bender knocked everything off the reference desk, sending noisy clatters throughout the library. Vernon held the door for Sheila. She didn't look up, but she could feel the steel grays of the vice principal burning through her. He was out for blood for her act of defiance.

Her classmates watched the two of them leave the library in silence. Vernon slammed the door behind him. He was pissed off.

Brian sighed. He wished he had defended Sheila when Vernon was bullying her. She had stuck up for him many times during detention against Bender, yet he failed to do the same for her. He lowered his head sadly.

* * *

Vernon led the two miscreants across the hall. Sheila swallowed as she approached the dreaded vice principal's office to meet her punishment.

Doom hung in the air as they realized the deep shit they were in. Sheila's blatant act of defiance had pissed off the vice principal. Bender only fanned the flames with his provocation.

Bender was about to grab a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Don't get comfortable, bub!" Vernon said, putting up a finger to stop Bender. "You and I need to have a private chat. I don't need you corrupting the mind of the newcomer anymore."

He pointed to a closet in the corner of his office. Bender reluctantly obeyed and went into the closet. Sheila kept her head down. She was completely despondent after all the cruel things Vernon had said to her.

"You, sit there!" he told Sheila, pointing to the chairs. "And don't move an inch."

Sheila sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Upon hearing the closet door close, she was relieved to be alone for now. She could hear Vernon yelling at Bender in the closet, but couldn't make out any of the words.

The redhead studied Vernon's office. It was a typical high school principal's office. The desk had boring papers and files. An unopened lunch sat on his desk with a red plaid thermos along with a newspaper. A blue cup that contained pens, pencils, a hole puncher, a magnifying glass and letter opener sat in the center. To the left was a polar bear knick knack. To the right was a phone with a placard of his name in front of it.

Behind the desk was an uncomfortable looking gray office chair with black arm rests. Books sat in a semicircle in the far back. There was a letter sorter that contained more files inside and on top. There were a few odd things she noticed: a calendar with a blonde model in a red swimsuit that knelt next to a toolbox, posing on a beach. By the books was a potted plant and a White Sox baseball cap. On top of the letter sorter was a trophy.

Huh. Well, the man certainly had interests if he had these few things.

On the wall near the supply closet were his diplomas and achievement awards. There was a coat rack that stood in the corner with a coat hanging from it. A small table lay adjacent to the closet with a small table lamp.

After taking time to observe the office, a million clever ideas for pranks came to her mind, cheering her up. She smirked as she thought of pulling a nice little prank on Bitchy Richie. A little payback for humiliating her. She thought of doing the classic tack on the chair, but decided against it due to the fact it would be too obvious.

She looked at his unopened lunch and spied the red thermos. She picked it up and loosened the top enough so the contents would spill out, but left it so there would be no evidence of tampering. She carefully placed the thermos back in its proper place and sat back down.

She was already imagining the scene playing out in her head. It made her smile. She could only wish she would be able to see this prank go down if and when it happened.

Soon the door from the closet opened, followed by a click of a lock. Sheila was horrified. How could Vernon do such a cruel thing like locking Bender inside? While she had this impending feeling of doom, she still couldn't rid the smirk off her face as she thought about her little prank.

The man approached the red haired miscreant that sat in the chair. Good thing she didn't move since he left her so he could give Bender the reality check he needed. Now that he was done with that gutless turd he left in the closet, it was time to deal with this disobedient girl. This pain in the ass that irritated him with her jokes, her voice impressions, her flippant back talk, and bold defiance of the rules. Making a fool out of him.

Vernon glared at this smart mouthed comedian that sat there. He found it strange that when he had left her, she was near the brink of tears. Now all of a sudden, she was smiling.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Donovan," he ordered brusquely. "You're in deep shit. And it's no joke."

Sheila had tried, but she just couldn't. She thinned her lips to get rid of it. She knew this was no laughing matter for what she did. She looked at Vernon who stood there, towering over her with his hands on his hips and a fierce look. His jaw was clenched. A vein throbbed in his temple. He was pissed.

Vernon wanted to make sure he was intimidating to the teenager. He wanted her to know how much deep shit she was in for what she did.

"I just don't understand you kids today," he began with a frown.

"Perhaps you should've chosen a different career then?" Sheila answered flippant.

Vernon glowered as he heard the Smart Mouth's reply. Typical of her! He had this aching desire to crack one across her smart mouth. Just ONE!

But he resisted. He knew there were lines he wasn't supposed to cross. He had to get through to this defiant teenager no matter what.

Given that she had defied the rules and went out into the halls, he was very certain that Donovan was turning into a Bender disciple. While he had no proof regarding two earlier incidences in detention, he was sure that Bender was having an influence on her. He needed to put a stop to it.

The man carefully considered his words, recalling a few details he had read in her file, he decided to use these as ammo. He had to admit that he was impressed to discover that Sheila was actually an excellent student academically with the exception of chemistry and math with C minus averages. She was once in the high school band as a clarinetist, but quit two years ago.

Her family life was intriguing: divorced parents. An absent father. Her stepfather was a US Army sergeant. A man of respect like him. Her file stated she expressed a strong hatred for her stepfather. While Vernon didn't have a chance to contact her stepfather yet, he made a mental note to do so later.

She was currently living with her grandfather: a retired WWII Army veteran. Two military men. Men of valor and respect in her family. Yet she showed none of it. She was a spoiled little Army brat.

"I spoke with your grandfather yesterday," he said. "Real swell guy. He says you're a good kid. He thinks you deserve another chance despite what you did at your last school."

Sheila stared at the man, feeling a sense of unease as she thought of her grandpa talking to Mr. Vernon. She dreaded the very idea of this man speaking to her family.

She could only imagine how disappointed her grandpa would be if she fucked up here. She loved him as he was the only father figure she had. The thought of failing him was dreadful. She swallowed, feeling her cheeks burn slightly.

Vernon observed the redhead shift uncomfortably in her chair. Ah! He may have touched a nerve. He made a careful note of this. Perhaps the Army brat did have a tiny bit of respect in her.

"Well I don't think so," he said. "I think you're a real pain in the ass."

"Did you remember to pick up your ointments for your little problem, sir?" she quipped.

Vernon's eyes burned with anger and humiliation as he recalled that joke she made yesterday. He got down to her level, thrusting a finger in her face.

"Alright, missy!" he said fiercely. "You listen and you listen good."

Sheila looked uncomfortable as the man invaded her space. She frowned. This was just like Chris's little "talks" when her mother would be out of the room.

"If you don't change course," Vernon said. "You're going to end up just like your 'friend' John Bender. A waste of space."

Upon recalling all those nasty things Vernon said and her failure to stand up for Bender in the library, the fire in her reignited. He didn't even know anything about Bender's home life. She glared with glittering emerald daggers into his steel ones.

"You know, instead of making ASSumptions, why don't you be more understanding?" Sheila fired back. "Bender's got a rough life...he's trying to figure shit out."

The vice principal let out a condescending scoff upon hearing the redhead's defense on the delinquent.

"Is _that_ what he's got you believing?" Vernon replied scornfully.

"It's the truth!" she insisted.

"Well, this isn't about Bender. It's about you!" he said. "If you want to make it out of Shermer alive, you'll do well to stay away from Bender. He's a bad influence."

Sheila stared with disbelief. "So you're not even interested in knowing anything about our lives?"

"My only concern is that kids like you don't end up a bunch of juvenile delinquents like your little messiah in the closet there."

She couldn't believe it. This man didn't give a shit about hearing their side. He just saw everyone as he wanted. He was just like her stepfather. He didn't care. He just wanted complete obedience. Her defense for Bender was completely in vain.

"So that's it?! We don't get a say?!" she exclaimed.

The man was getting fed up with her argumentative behavior.

"This conversation is over, Donovan," he said, putting his foot down.

Her temper flared up when she realized Vernon was not willing to hear anything. It was completely unfair.

"God, you SUCK, Vernon!" she spat.

The man finally snapped at the spoiled Army brat's words. He saw red and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her out of the chair. He dragged her out of his office and down the hall.

"HEY!" she yelled. "What are you DOING?! Let go of me!"

Vernon ignored the teen's cries of protest. He was completely fed up with Sheila's back talk and she needed to be taught a lesson.

He opened the door to the first classroom he saw, flinging the door open with a bang. He pushed her roughly into a desk. The red haired miscreant glared at him, moving her flaming red hair out of her flushed face.

"I think a little time by yourself will do you good," he said. "One more word out of your smart mouth and your ass is GONE from Shermer! GONE! Do you hear me?"

Sheila's face fell upon hearing this. God! No! She couldn't get kicked out of Shermer. Her heart fell into her stomach. She could see her life being over. The disappointment of her grandfather. Tears began to prick her eyes upon realization of her bad behavior. She couldn't get kicked out. She just couldn't!

Vernon could see the look of fear on the teenage girl's face. He saw she was actually scared this time. He got her! Her greatest fear lay right in front of him. And he could use it to his advantage the next time she misbehaved.

Round two: Vernon won.

"Now..." he said, calming himself down. "Why don't you take some time to think about that essay you're supposed to write?"

He closed the door behind him. Sheila was horrified to find that he had locked the door to the classroom. She sat there, frozen with fear after hearing Vernon's threat hanging heavily in the air. She couldn't even get up and yell about the locked door. Her anger was overcome with fear.

Once she was sure she was alone, she buried her face in her arms on the desk. Her anger was spent, all that was left was sadness and disappointment in herself. The sinking realization that she was fucking up at Shermer. She was alone and scared. In a new school. And she was already fucking up.

All the times she wore her comedy mask, it had completely fallen off. Screwing up her face, she began to cry. Tears fell on the desk, her body convulsed with each sob that echoed throughout the empty classroom as she sat alone and forgotten.


	15. What Was That Ruckus?

**1:40 pm: Library**

The four other detainees sat alone in the library, the adrenaline was still buzzing after their narrow escape from Vernon. The new girl had given herself up to distract their despised vice principal so they could get away.

Brian sat behind Andrew and Claire, munching his carrots from lunch. He looked at the empty desk where Sheila used to be. How many conversations they had. He had to admit that he missed her. He felt terrible that he didn't stand up to Vernon when he was picking on her earlier. He wondered what would've happened if he said anything.

"Do you think Sheila is OK?" Brian asked worried.

"So what?" Andrew said uncaring. "She made her bed, she can lie in it."

"Shut up, Andy!" Claire snapped. "If it weren't for Sheila, we would've been in deep shit."

"Well, it's not MY fault she chose to side with Bender and go on his crazy field trip," he argued.

"You would've went anyway!"

Andrew shook his head in frustration when Claire told him this. He didn't have the guts to admit he was wrong.

"I should've said something," Brian said remorsefully.

"What're you talking about?" Andrew asked.

"When Mr. Vernon was picking on Sheila earlier. I should've stuck up for her."

"What would've you said?" Andrew pointed out. "You would've been in as much deep shit as Bender and Sheila."

"Doesn't make it right for him to pick on her like that," Brian argued. "She's stuck up for everyone so far."

"Oh wow! You're so chivalrous!" Andrew remarked sarcastically. "So what? Are you gonna go riding out there on your white horse and rescue her? You better have the guts to slay a dragon like Vernon."

Brian stayed quiet after that. It was true. He was scared of Vernon. More scared of him than anyone else. Bender and Sheila weren't afraid of Vernon. They stood up to him since he was a bully. A lot of times he was unfair. But messing with Vernon was just like he said.

_Mess with the bull, you get the horns._

* * *

**Room 201**

Sheila was enveloped by darkness around her. She found herself dressed as Dorothy from _The Wizard of Oz_, alone. She was curled up on the floor, crying; she was scared and alone in a strange place, trapped.

"I'm scared," she wept. Then cried out loudly like a frightened child, "I'm scared, Daddy! I'm scared!"

She continued to cry into her hands as she sat on the floor, terrified and alone as she was locked up in this dreadful place, which strangely looked like a mix of the Wicked Witch's castle and her classroom that Vernon left her in.

"Sheila...?"

She heard a comforting male voice behind her, echoing as if it were from far away.

"Sheila?"

Almost immediately she recognized it. She turned around to find a giant crystal ball with an image of her father inside it. He was frantically looking for her, just as scared as she was.

"Sheila, where are you?" he called. "I'm trying to find you!

Through her tears, she perked up and crawled on her knees to the crystal ball. She had to tell him where she was. He would rescue her. He would save her from the Wicked Witch.

"I'm here in Shermer, Daddy!" she cried in a shaky voice. "I'm locked up in detention. I'm trying to get to you, Daddy!"

Soon the image of her father disappeared like smoke in the crystal ball. The redhead's face fell with fear and panic when she saw this. No! This couldn't be happening! She couldn't lose him again!

"Oh Daddy! Don't go away!" she cried desperately.

The crystal ball seemed to swirl with dark colors of black and green. Her father was gone. She became more scared. The fear of losing her father again.

"I'm scared! Come back! Come back! Please!" she begged.

The image eventually became the green face of the Wicked Witch of the West, which looked like a mix of Vernon and her stepfather.

"Daddy! Daddy, come back!" the witch mocked. Then yelled cruelly, "I'll give you your Daddy, Donovan!"

The witch cackled loudly with a sadistic grin on its face, frightening the little girl...

Sheila snapped awake from her dream. She sniffled, realizing she was still here alone in the classroom that Vernon had left her. Her eyes were raw and red from crying, stained with her remaining tears. She must've cried herself to sleep and didn't notice. She was thirsty, exhausted and dizzy. She wondered how long she had been asleep as her body was stiff. The minutes creeped slowly as she sat alone in the empty classroom.

Sighing, she wiped the remaining snot and drool away. She reached into her backpack, looking at a picture of her father and her. How happy they looked. Their big smiles. Their funny expressions. She wished it could be that way again.

An ache came to her heart as she knew the man she once loved and adored had disappeared like smoke. No explanation. No goodbye. She wanted to cry again. She felt so alone. She wondered if her father had forgotten her. Just like the time when she was ten. She sat on the porch, waiting for him to come home. She waited until sunset, but he didn't come home. She felt her Dad forgot about her. Just like Vernon leaving her in the classroom. Just like her mother and stepfather sending her away.

It seemed they wanted to forget about her.

While she had thought about what she had done, honestly she was glad she did what she had to do. She was in a new school in a strange place with five strangers she didn't even know, yet she felt they were her already her friends. Being removed from them made her fear they too forgot about her.

Sighing, she laid her head back down, closing her eyes, hoping the hours would just pass quickly so she could go home...

...when a noise from the ceiling startled her.

"What the f...?!" she exclaimed, looking up.

There, dangling from an open square in the ceiling tiles was the dark head of Bender.

"Hey, Teacher's Pet!" he called. "Mind if I drop in?"

"Jesus, Bender!" she yelled. "You scared the shit out of me!"

He laughed, climbing down from the ceiling vent and took a seat next to Sheila. He frowned when he saw the redhead's tear stained face. She had been crying.

"You OK?" he asked. "Did that shit stain do something to you? He sounded pretty rough from what I heard."

Sheila shook her head, knowing he was asking about Vernon. "No. I think I really pissed him off," she said.

"Who cares?" he said. "He's an asshole."

"So what are you doing here?"

"I said I owed you one," he replied with a smirk. "So...here's your payback." Moving his dark hair out of his eyes, he spoke again. "By the way, I heard your conversation with Dick."

"I was just being honest," she said.

"And possibly committing academic suicide, Teacher's Pet."

"What can I say? I thought he might've been more understanding about your situation. Boy, was I wrong."

Bender stood up from his seat; the wallet chain clinked as he moved. "Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I think we should get this show on the road."

Sheila arched an eyebrow. "How are we going to get out?"

"How do YOU think, Teacher's Pet? You're smart enough to figure it out."

Sheila looked up, recalling Bender coming through the vents and frowned a bit. "What...you mean through the vents?"

"No, the locked door," he said sarcastically. "Yes, genius. Through the vents. They lead straight back to the library. Now let's get the hell out of here."

Sheila nodded. She tucked the photo of her father and her in her pocket as she knew it was the only thing that mattered to her.

"I'll give you a boost," he said. "Stand on the desk."

Sheila climbed on top of the desk where the open ceiling tile was. Bender grabbed her legs and boosted her up into the vents. Sheila was ever glad to have climbed trees when she was younger; she wasn't as strong as she was then, but managed to pull herself up into the vents. Then Bender followed after, carefully replacing the ceiling tile as if she hadn't left at all.

* * *

**Vernon's Office**

Vernon sat at his office. He heaved a sigh of relief. His anger had worn him out after having to deal with the defiant red haired miscreant. She was just so...stubborn. Now that he had her tucked away where she couldn't cause any more trouble, he could finally relax and eat his lunch.

He stuffed half an orange in his mouth, sucking out the pulp and juice. Feeling thirsty, he reached for his red thermos to pour his coffee into a Styrofoam coffee cup. Upon tipping it over, the top came off, spilling the contents everywhere in a muddy, grainy mess all over the desk. It ruined his sandwich too. The man heaved an exasperated sigh, looking at the mess and tossing his orange in the wax paper. He got a little on his pants as well.

"Oh shit," he sighed.

He got up and headed to the faculty restroom, pulling his sport coat on.

"Coffee!" he muttered angrily. "Looks like they scrape it from the bottom of the Mississippi River. Everything's polluted...everything's polluted. The coffee's polluted. The kids are polluted..."

He stepped into the faculty restroom, using a paper towel to clean off the coffee grinds off his pants. Seeing as he was already in the restroom, he decided to use the toilet. He stepped into a stall and grabbed a paper toilet seat cover...

* * *

**Heating Ducts**

Slowly but surely, the two of them inched forward through the vent with Bender leading the way. Sheila was a bit worried if they would fall through, given the loud creaks that were made when they moved.

"You sure this will hold our weight?" she asked nervous.

"Relax. Just keep moving," Bender assured.

The silence between the two of them was deafening. The creaks ranged from light to slightly loud. Bender's wallet chain clinked as he continued to crawl. Given the high tension in the room, Bender decided to speak.

"A naked blonde walks into a bar," he began. "With a poodle under one arm and a two foot salami under another."

Sheila sniggered, realizing he was telling a dirty joke.

"She lays the poodle on the table. The bartender says, 'I suppose you won't be needing a drink.' The naked lady says..."

The redhead smirked, thinking of a really clever punchline.

"I got it!" she said. "The naked lady says, 'Nope. I've already got a cock, tail, and a fuzzy navel.'"

Bender laughed rambunctiously. "Good one, Teacher's Pet," he said. "But wrong."

The two of continued to move. Sheila heard a very loud creak under them, which worried her.

"The naked lady says..." Bender said, picking up from the joke...

The bottom of the vent gave out and the two of them tumbled down from the ceiling...

"OHHHH SHIIITTT!" Bender screamed.

**CRASH!**

The four detainees heard the loud crash and stared up dumbfounded at the giant hole in the ceiling.

* * *

**Faculty Restroom**

The crash could be heard throughout the empty school.

"JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY!" Vernon shouted, which literally scared the hell out of him while he was on the toilet.

He got up, quickly pulling up his pants and tucking his shirt back in, jogging to the library to find out what the hell that ruckus was.

* * *

**The Library**

Sheila and Bender sat up after falling through the ceiling, landing on the top floor of the library. And it was no soft landing for either of them. Every part of her body hurt. Christ! She got up, rubbing her head and dusting herself off. She ended up smacking Bender in the head. He groaned with pain.

"Jesus, you fuckin' Amazon!" he cringed. "What're you, bench pressing iron?"

"It was an accident!" she said. "I'm in pain too, dumb ass!"

The two of them descended the stairs, dusting themselves off. The other detainees stared agape at the two of them as they casually sauntered down the stairs.

"We forgot our pencils," Sheila said with a shrug.

"GODDAMMIT!" yelled the voice of a very surprised Vernon from outside the library doors.

Knowing that they weren't supposed to be in the library, Sheila and Bender dove under the tables: Sheila went under Brian's while Bender went under Claire's.

The geek stared wide eyed, afraid that he would give her away. She made a shhh gesture. He nodded silently, swallowing nervously. The library door opened with a bang and she heard Vernon's hurried footsteps.

"What in God's name is going on here?!" the vice principal yelled in surprise.

The detainees all shrugged, looking at one another, feigning confusion.

"What was that ruckus?!" Vernon said.

His eyes scanned the library, trying to locate the source of that ruckus that had scared the shit out of him.

"What ruckus?" Andrew asked innocently.

"I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus," Vernon answered.

Brian shrugged. "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?" he asked.

"Watch your tongue, young man!" the vice principal warned, pointing a finger. "Watch it!"

While Sheila was crouched nervously under Brian's table, she felt a tickle in her nose from the dust she inhaled after crashing down. She sneezed, trying to keep it as quiet as possible...only to smack her head on the underside of the table loudly. Brian banged the table in the tune of 'Shave and a Haircut' with Andrew responding the last notes.

"What is that?!" Vernon demanded.

Andrew made a zipping noise. Allison put down her feet, biting her nails as she stared at the vice principal, who was growing more and more confused.

"What is that? What, what is that?!" he inquired angrily, holding his hands out to emphasize his state of bewilderment. "What is that noise?"

"What noise?" Andrew said.

"Seriously, sir, there wasn't any noise," Claire assured.

Suddenly, Claire felt something very soft brush against her thighs, getting higher and higher. Her eyes widened with shock as she realized it was Bender's face between her legs. That fucking pervert!

_Oh HELL NO!_ she thought.

She squeezed her legs on the criminal's face, crushing his nose. This earned a loud cry of pain. Claire made a loud sneeze, which prompted everyone else to join in a coughing fit. She stomped on his hands as well, making him yell as well.

"That noise?" she asked flustered. "Was that the noise you were talking about?"

The vice principal crossed his arms, glaring at the four detainees. He was suspicious that they were hiding something.

"No, it wasn't," he responded. "That was not the noise that I was talking about. Now I may not have caught you in the act yet," he stated. "But you can bet I will."

Allison let out a laugh, which sounded like a cough.

"You make book on that, missy," he said, pointing a finger angrily at her.

Sheila made a face, imitating Vernon, pointing a finger like him and mouthing his words. Brian bit his lip, trying to keep a straight face.

"And YOU!" he said, pointing at Brian, who turned white as a sheet. "I will not be made a fool of!"

The man turned around to head to the door. Hearing his fading footsteps and the door open, Sheila poked her head...just to get a quick glimpse of him leaving...with a paper toilet seat cover sticking out of his pants. Sheila's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open; she had to use every ounce of her willpower not to burst out laughing. She covered her mouth and nose.

Once the door slammed shut, everyone started laughing hysterically. Sheila was on the floor laughing, clutching her sides. She wished she had a camera to capture the moment.

Claire gave Bender a few stomps and kicks, which he tried to avoid. She scooted her chair back to let the pervert out, barraging him with savage slaps on the back. He shrugged, standing on his knees.

"It was an accident!" he said feigning innocence.

"You're an asshole!" she hissed.

"So sue me," he responded nonchalant.

Sheila got up from the floor, shaking out her long hair to get rid of the dust. Ugh! She definitely was going to need a shower after this. She could've sworn she found a dead bug in her hair.

"Sheila, that was really cool," Claire said.

"What was?" she asked, sniffling.

"How you sacrificed yourself for the rest of us."

"Seriously, I wouldn't have had the nerve to do that," Brian added.

"Yea," Andrew admitted. "But you're still pretty crazy."

"Crazy is just a higher level of consciousness," Allison added.

The comedian arched an eyebrow up on hearing this. "Um...you're welcome?" she said.

Bender headed over to Brian and stuck out his hand. "Yo, Ahab," he said. "_Kybo_ _mein_ _doobage_?"

"Huh?" Brian said confused.

"The package? In your underpants?"

Brian glanced over at the redhead, blushing as she was standing there.

"Dude, it's not like she hasn't seen anything before," Bender said.

Sheila rolled her eyes at Bender. She looked away, giving Brian some privacy so he could get the package out of his pants. There was a hiss of a zipper and the crinkle of plastic. Brian handed the baggie to Bender who headed to the back of the room.

"Yo, wastoid!" Andrew said sternly. "You're not gonna blaze up in here!"

"Whoever wants in can join me in the back," Bender said gesturing to the couches.

Sheila and Claire looked at each other, then shrugged, joining Bender. Bender studied the two girls who had joined him, pleased.

Brian looked back, seeing the two girls. He glanced at Andrew and indicated 'maybe just a little bit'. Andrew gave him a look of disapproval and mouthed 'Absolutely not'.

Brian contemplated his decision, glancing back at the two girls...then got up. Realizing his pants were unzipped, he fixed them and joined them on the couch. He sat across from Sheila and Claire. Sheila had pulled her hair back into a ponytail using her jelly bracelet.

"Hey, Dweeb!" Bender said cheerfully. "Glad to see you grew some balls."

Bender handed out some joints, lighting them up with a match. He took the first hit, exhaling a smooth stream of smoke. He blew it in Brian's face, making him cough. He chuckled at the reaction.

"Can you show me how to do that?" Claire asked.

"You never did this?" Bender asked.

She shook her head.

"Lemme guess," Bender said to Brian. "You haven't kissed Mary Jane either."

"N-no," Brian said nervous. "My cousin, Kendall did once..."

"And you, Teacher's Pet?" he asked as he rolled up a joint.

"Twice," Sheila answered.

"Lemme guess..." Bender said smirking. "Band camp."

Sheila laughed. "I've done it with my friends back home in Detroit too."

Andrew shook his head, turning around. Eventually gave in to the peer pressure.

"Shit," he said, knowing he was going to regret doing this.

Allison sat by herself alone as she watched in disbelief as Andrew get up to join the rest of the detainees in the back to smoke Mary Jane. As they gathered around in a circle on the couches.


	16. Study Break

**2:05 pm**

Vernon sighed as he went back to get his jacket from the faculty restroom. He was shocked to find he had the paper toilet seat sticking out of his pants after the fact. He face palmed as he realized he looked like a complete jackass in front of the detainees. He could only imagine they were making fun of him now. It was bad enough that the entire school thought he was a big joke.

He didn't feel like going back to his office since it was still a mess from the coffee incident. Plus he was bored. He didn't want to spend a whole Saturday in there. Wandering the halls was already becoming monotonous. He had nothing else to do.

He decided to head to the basement for a little 'study break'.

* * *

**The Library**

A thick haze hung in the air. The crew were chilling on the couches in the back of the library. Brian was wearing sunglasses and looking decidedly more relaxed. He burst into a fit of giggles. Sheila held a joint in her hand, blowing smoke rings and out her nose. Bender lit a match under his teeth and lit up a joint for Claire. The princess tried to inhale...then coughed.

"Ohhh, I forgot t' tell ya, Sandra Dee," Sheila jeered, imitating Rizzo from _Grease_. "You shouldn't inhale unless you're used to it."

Bender and Brian laughed. Claire glared at her with a glazed look.

"God! You're such a bitch sometimes!" Claire said annoyed.

Sheila giggled. Brian took a hit and exhaled, then proceeded to try to catch the smoke with his mouth like it were bubbles. The girls laughed.

"Chicks cannot hol' their smoke," Brian said, doing a funny voice. "Dat's what it is."

"Sure we can," Sheila responded as Groucho Marx, holding the joint like a cigar. "More than you ever can."

Claire, Bender and Brian laughed as the Comedian did some voice impressions of a few select characters: the Three Stooges, Mork from _Mindy and Mork_, June Cleaver, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John from _Grease_, Sean Connery as James Bond. Mary Tyler Moore. Mae West.

"Is that ALL you can do, Teacher's Pet?" Bender asked, chuckling.

Sheila took the joint and blew some smoke rings. She got up and demonstrated Groucho's stooped walk, then attempted to do a side pratfall on her ass...unfortunately, due being high as a kite, she smacked her head on the floor as well. Bender, Claire and Brian laughed hysterically. She shook her head like Moe Howard the Stooge after hitting her head on the floor.

"You're fuckin' nuts, Teacher's Pet," Bender said, shaking his head.

"Why, thank you, kind sir!" she said in Eliza Doolittle's Cockney accent, getting up and doing a dizzy curtsy.

Claire took a hit. Then blinked her red, puffy eyes, grinning vapidly.

"Do you know how popular I am?" she began. "I'm so popular...everyone loves me so much."

Bender and Sheila were chuckling.

"So, Sheila," Claire asked. "What were you like at your last school."

"Pretty much an ass clown," she said.

Bender laughed at the Comedian's misstep in her speech.

"You mean _class_ clown," Brian corrected.

"Either way," Sheila said with a shrug. "Aside from that, I threw some pretty great parties at my place."

"Oh yea?" Bender said intrigued.

"Yea. There were times Chris and Mom had to go on weekend retreats for Army. that's when a party was happening. I'd have a cover to stay at a friend's while they were away, then we'd go back to my place and throw a party."

"Very cool," Claire said smiling. "I expect an invite to your next one."

"It might be a while before I do. That came to an end when they came home a day early," Sheila said. "They were pissed."

"Bummer," Bender said.

Brian held up a hand for a high five; Bender gave him one, only to knock him on his back. Sheila and Claire laughed.

The Comedian got up from her seat to join him on the floor, looking at him.

"I dinnae know if he can' hold it anymore, Captain!" Sheila said, imitating Montgomery "Scotty" Scott from _Star Trek_.

Brian's mouth dropped open upon hearing the redhead imitate a character from one of his favorite shows.

"Do Spock!" he said laughing.

Sheila lowered her head, trying to put on Spock's most serious face, then gave him the Vulcan salute.

"Live long and prosper, Brian Johnson," she spoke in a semi-decent Spock voice.

"I think I love you," he blurted out.

Sheila looked at him, blinking with confusion. She was unsure if she heard him correctly or if it was from the haze of the dope. Then burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?" she said laughing.

"What?" he echoed, laughing.

The two of them burst into silly, goofy giggles. The redhead gazed at Brian lying on the floor with his sunglasses. She wasn't sure what it was about Brian that attracted her. He was really adorable. So sweet. She kept staring at his lips. Untouched and desirable, a forbidden fruit that was tempting her. She had to have a taste again. Feeling bold with a mixture of the high and her raging teenage hormones, Sheila propped herself up on her forearm and leaned towards Brian.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" she said, imitating Lt. Uhura.

Upon hearing this imitation and her referring him to his absolutely favorite character, the geek was absolutely delighted!

"Permission granted," Brian said in his best Captain Kirk voice.

She giggled at his voice imitation; it was still adorable. She leaned down to kiss him, brushing her nose against his. His lips parted as if by instinct, feeling her hot breath just hovering above his lips, teasing him. He pulled away momentarily.

"Is this that promise you made me in the hallway early?" he asked.

The redhead gave him a sensual smirk, pushing his sunglasses up to look into his blue eyes, which were puffy and bloodshot.

"I always keep my word," Sheila responded breathless.

The nerd smiled. Sheila was just irresistible: her flaming copper hair, the permanent smirking lips, her green eyes.

She leaned back in to kiss him again. Her scent enveloped him; it smelled like green and outdoors; fresh cut hay and green apple shampoo. Her lips teased his, making him hungry for more. Her tongue brushed his lips, tracing the adorable Cupid bow shape; it sent absolute shocks of pleasure throughout his body. His hand went to the back of her head, his fingers threading her hair. His face grew hot, becoming a blushing mess at all of this. He could've sworn he heard the heavenly choir and the second chorus from Meat Loaf's _Paradise_ _on the Dashboard Light_ somewhere.

Sheila shifted herself in a more comfortable position so that she was on top of him so she could continue kissing him. She inhaled Brian's scent: he smelled very clean and pure. Dial soap, laundry detergent mingling with the scent of dope. Her hand went to his face, caressing his jawline with her thumb, her fingers trailed down to the collar of his green sweater, feeling his sweat damp neck; his pulse was racing. She went to his hair and massaged his scalp, earning a soft moan from the geek.

Shifting a bit, Brian wrapped his free arm around Sheila, planting his palm on her waist and pulled her closer until she was pressed against his thin frame. Her breasts flattened against him. God! She was so warm and soft!

He became hungrier for more kisses. He felt her tongue poke the crease of his lips, making him part his lips. He turned even redder when her tongue slid into his mouth. She brushed his braces, poking and teasing his own tongue. Oh! The taste was so delicious!

Brian panted as he got more into the kiss with the girl. He wanted more! He followed her lead as she teased his tongue. She gave his tongue a saucey suck and oh God! It sent absolute shocks throughout his thin body.

He felt as she broke away to go to his neck. She trailed wet kisses up and down the pale column, giving it licks and sucks. He shuddered in absolute pleasure as he had never experienced this before. A trembling pant escaped from him as he felt this. It felt absolutely amazing!

Bender gestured to Claire silently to the two horny geeks making out in a hot, yet sloppy mess on the floor. He grinned salaciously, chuckling. Then he hooted loudly, making the two of them look up: they were rosy cheeked, wet lipped and breathless.

"Dweeb, we're all glad you're getting your freak on," Bender quipped. "But please get a room!"

The two of them separated, wiped their chins, which were covered in saliva. They straightened themselves out. They sat up and went back to the couches. The sound of loud rock music blasted from a smaller room inside the library got their attention. The door whipped open and Andrew emerged from a wall of smoke, taking a hit from a joint. Andrew unzipped his hoodie sweatshirt and started pumping his fist to the music. He took off running through the library, dancing at a million miles a minute, executing a series of acrobatic cartwheels, somersaults and vaults over the bookshelves. Brian whistled loudly.

"WHOO!" Sheila cheered. Then imitated a sports commentator, "Looks like Clark's getting heated up...and boy is he going a million miles a minute with those moves...and my! He's a regular Mary Lou Retton!"

Andrew jumped on a bench, pulled off his sweatshirt and beat his chest like a gorilla. The four of the detainees began to hoot and holler at the unexpected display from Andrew.

Everyone started giggling like giddy goofballs. Andrew dances back into the room and slammed the door. He pumped his fists and then screamed...causing the window in the door to shatter. Allison looked on from afar, intrigued.

"Who taught YOU to dance?" Sheila taunted. "John Travolta's...grandmother?"

Upon hearing this taunt, Andrew stepped through the broken glass door, looking at Sheila with a challenging look.

"Hey, funny girl!" he called out. "Think YOU can do better? How 'bout a dance off?"

"What're the stakes, Sporto?" Sheila asked.

"If you win, you get my varsity jacket," he said. "If I win, you have to write my essay."

"Let's dance, Fred Astaire!" Sheila said, getting up from her seat. "But I get to pick the music."

The detainees shouted with approval as the red haired comedian went to join Andrew in a dance off. The athlete smiled with approval.

"Alrighty! Let's do this, Ginger Rogers!" he joked. "What will we be playing?"

Sheila laughed as she was called this, on account of the double meaning to this nickname. "I wanna rock out."

"You got it!"

Andrew looked at a few tracks, carefully selecting a rock track and hit the play button. It was AC/DC's _You Shook Me All Night Long_. Sheila grinned as she heard one of her favorite bands playing. The beat started pumping through the speakers as she began to face off with Andrew.

"Show us what you got, hot shot," he challenged.

Sheila nodded her head to the beat of the music. While she knew she wasn't excellent dancer, she considered herself to be decent. She pantomimed the strumming of the guitar. She mouthed the lead singer's words, launching into some power rock moves, swaying her hips, shaking her head; her fire hair whipped through the air. She pantomimed Angus Young playing air guitar.

"BOOM! Top that, sporto!" Sheila challenged.

Andrew looked a bit nervous.

"Dude, I'm not _that_ great!" Sheila said. "Go ahead. Show me what you got!"

Andrew launched into his own routine. While it was decent, it wasn't as great as Sheila's. She turned to the group.

"Survey says?" she said, imitating a game show host.

"Sheila," Brian said.

"Andrew," Allison said.

"Sorry, Andrew," Claire said apologetic. "I'm gonna have to go with Sheila."

"Sheila by a mile," Bender answered.

"Three to one," Brian announced. "Sheila wins!"

"Hand it over, Sporto!" she said with a smug grin.

As reality dawned on the athlete, he tossed his beloved letterman jacket to the Comedian who had a giant shit eating grin on her face.

"Here," he said defeated. "You won it fair and square."

Sheila saw the crestfallen look on Andrew's face when she caught the jacket. It would've been cool to have it, but she felt really bad that he had to give up his most prized possession over a stupid dance off. With a kind smile, she handed it back to him. The athlete looked surprised and confused.

"Lesson of the Day," she said. "Never make a bet when you're on a 'study break'."

Andrew smiled appreciative as he got his jacket back. "Thanks, Funny Girl," he said. "That's pretty cool of you."

"I still get to keep the title, right?" she joked.

"Totally."

Andrew took Sheila's wrist, raising it in the air like they were in a boxing match.

"Sheila: Shermer High Dance Champion. 1985!" he announced.

Sheila put both hands in the air triumphantly as the other detainees cheered on. Sheila made exaggerated cheering noises.

* * *

**2:23 pm**

**The Basement**

Vernon fingered through the confidential files, reading each one carefully out loud with interest. He was always intrigued by what each student's file said.

Usually he would spend a Saturday during detention reading the files, given he was the only one in charge those days. It sucked that he had to be stuck at Shermer babysitting the ones who broke the rules. It was the perfect time of day to read the confidential files. There was no principal sniffing around.

Vernon didn't think he was doing any harm by reading the files. He had to know what made everyone tick. Which ones were the good ones. Which ones were the troublemakers. Which ones had problems with drugs, dysfunctional family, trouble with the law, psychological problems, etc. After all, knowledge was power. He could use this information and make sure these shits didn't dare defy his authority.

He continued to thumb through the files until he found the transfer student's file. He had to find out more. There were notes he had briefed earlier. Upon opening it, ignoring the photo of Sheila, he skimmed her contact information, making careful notes about her stepfather's contact number. He would definitely call him sometime today after detention. He wanted to know what made the transfer student tick.

**STUDENT PROFILE**

"Sheila Elizabeth Donovan is a 16-year-old female high school student who is funny, cheerful, charming, and intelligent. Student is excellent academically, but exhibits behavioral issues with poor impulse control, expressed by both parents and teachers...

-Student stated that her parents divorced at age 10 and mother has remarried at age 12. Student is unwilling to accept mother's remarriage; claims stepfather is 'mean' and treats her like an Army cadet. Stepfather and mother deny these claims. (_Dysfunctional family problems._ Vernon remarked.)

-Student shows difficulty with coping with divorce; has expressed she is to blame and is unwilling to accept father's departure. (_Absent father and self-blaming for divorce._ Vernon thought. _That certainly would fuck up a person._)

-Student shows difficulty coping with rejection and expressed feelings of abandonment and anger over parents' divorce. (_Quite interesting. She's afraid of being rejected and has fear of abandonment, maybe some anger issues._)

-Student displays poor impulse control and demonstrates attention-seeking behavior with the use of comedy (e.g. jokes and pranks); student is reported to be obstreperous during classes; has been repeatedly warned by staff about behavior..."

Mr. Vernon chuckled to himself as he read the word 'obstreperous'. It was the perfect word to describe the red haired miscreant. She was exactly this.

_Obstreperous. _

His eyes went to the next paragraphs.

"-Student displays difficulty coping and controlling anger appropriately and becomes argumentative. Reports from staff state that when student is provoked, she will argue with peers or staff, varying on situation. (_Hot tempered._ Vernon thought. Oh yea. He remembered her little outburst of anger in his office when she was defending Bender.)

-Student is reported to occasionally reject authority, varying on situation. (_No surprise there._)

-Student has received 9 detentions during the semester due to disruptive behavior in class; 3 for showing off, 2 for pranks on students and staff, 1 on account of fighting with peers and staff, 3 for back talking with staff...(_Surprise! Surprise!_)"

"God! No wonder you're such a pain in the ass, Donovan," Vernon muttered with a chuckle, shaking his head.

Carl Reed had pretty much finished up for the day. He heard muttering coming from the filing room. Intrigued, he went to investigate and found the vice principal reading the files. He smirked, leaning against a dusty file cabinet. It was pretty clear the man was completely unaware of the janitor's presence. He watched as the man thumbed through the file he was holding, picking out a page.

Vernon moved on to the transfer/expulsion letter, reading it with intensity.

_From Staff Sgt. Christian and Mrs. Darcy Bennett _

_To Mr. Gary Wallace, Principal, _

_CC: Mr. Richard Vernon, Vice Principal,_

_Shermer High School, __Shermer, IL 60062_

_To Mr. Wallace and Mr. Vernon,_

_We hereby request kindly to issue a transfer certificate for our daughter, Sheila Donovan, to your school._

_We express our gratitude to your staff for your kind cooperation and understanding and hope you will accept her on such short notice. Due to unfortunate circumstances, our daughter, Sheila, was expelled from Dewey High on the grounds of..._

"Afternoon, Dick," Carl said.

Vernon glanced over at the sound of his name. His gray eyes widened as he was startled by the sudden presence of the janitor. Crap!

"Hey, Carl!" he said surprised, shutting the file quickly and tucking it away. "How you doing?"

"Good," the janitor responded with a chuckle, seeing how embarrassed Vernon was for getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Good. What's up?" Vernon said in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

"Not much," he said. "What's happening? What are you doing in the basement files?"

"Oh nothing, nothing," Vernon said dismissively. "Just doing a little homework here."

"Homework, huh?" Carl said, knowing what he said was complete shit. He stepped up closer, looking at the open filing cabinet. "Confidential files, huh? Seems you were looking at something pretty interesting."

"Look, Carl," said Vernon. "This is a highly sensitive area and I-I tell you something...certain people would be very, very embarrassed."

"Why are you lookin' at the files, Vern?" he inquired.

Vernon swallowed. "I had some concerns," he reasoned. "Legitimate concerns. About the new girl."

_Sure you did._ Carl thought skeptical.

"Didn't Principal Wallace warn you already about unauthorized reading of confidential student files? Didn't he tell you never to do that again?"

Vernon knew this was true. According to Principal Wallace, he had received some complaints by specific students claiming that Vernon had supposedly targeted them for harassment with the use of their personal information. While there wasn't any solid proof regarding his actions, he had been given a warning. Should Vernon be caught red handed, it would be goodbye Shermer. It would ruin him. He hoped he could reason with Carl into staying quiet about this. He couldn't lose his job.

For the first time in 22 years as an educator, he was actually scared. He was trembling.

"Well...I would really appreciate it if-if, we could keep this between us," Vernon replied nervously.

Carl shook his head. He knew about Vernon's actions. He knew what he was doing was wrong.

"I dunno, Vern," Carl said. "This is the second time you've done this."

"Please, Carl!" The man begged. "I-I'll do anything. If Wallace found out, he'd rip me a new one."

Carl considered it, given they were somewhat friends and Vernon was the reason he got a job at Shermer. He decided to offer his silence for a price.

"What are you gonna do for me, man?" Carl asked.

"What would you like?" the vice principal asked.

"You got fifty bucks?"

Vernon stared incredulous at the janitor. "What?!"

"Fifty bucks. Either that or I'm going to Principal Wallace first thing Monday morning."

Sighing in defeat, he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. If Carl's silence was worth keeping his job, fifty bucks was worth it.

"Um...thanks," Vernon said appreciatively.

"Mm-hmm. I'll keep quiet about this for now," Carl said. "See you later, Dick."

He went to leave when Vernon called out to him. Truth be told, he really needed a friend to talk to after a long day.

"Wait! Do you...want a beer or something?"

Carl shrugged. "Eh, what the hell?"


	17. Winding Down

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have added some extended dialogues and chapters to the story. I recommend starting at 'Firsties'. Feel free to read them if you wish to get caught up or just for plain fun! _

* * *

**2:23 pm**

**The Library**

Everyone seemed to be winding down from the "study break". Sheila and Brian felt a little awkward about their sloppy make out session on the floor. It was sloppy and not at all what they had thought it would be.

Sheila admitted it was weird she just made out with Brian after only knowing him a day. Then again, she couldn't say she was surprised by herself as she had kissed a random boy for no reason. Slept with them. But that was only two boyfriends ago. Sheila had dated a few guys in her lifetime, but she didn't really love any of them.

Brian was different. She couldn't help but feel like she was...falling for him. She hadn't felt like that towards anyone before. Still, she wanted to get to know Brian better. She feared she would scare him off despite her experience.

The geek glanced over at Sheila. He felt strange that a random girl like her would just kiss him. He wondered if that meant anything. Did she love him? Were they an item? Was this a real or just a drug induced fling that just randomly happened? Usually girls used guys like him to make their boyfriends jealous or as pretend dates to hide the fact that they were dating bad boys that their parents didn't approve of. He was a toy to be played with and discarded when they grew bored.

Sheila didn't seem like she was using him. But he couldn't be too sure about her intentions. She enjoyed talking to him. Shared some intimate details about herself with him. While he did have a crush on her, after that drug induced make out session, he wondered about where this was going.

The redhead looked at him, resting the back of her head on the couch, sitting next to Andrew. She had her legs crossed, her hair was tied up in an over the shoulder pony tail with a black jelly bracelet.

"Well...that was pretty..." Sheila began. "Did you enjoy that little promise?"

Brian nodded, tugging at his collar. "Yea...I did," he said.

"Maybe we can do it again? After detention? If you want...that is. No pressure."

"Sure," he said. "I'd love to...I'd have to ask my parents though."

Sheila nodded, decided that was the case, given Brian had told her his parents were strict. She wondered what they would think of her.

"Do you think they'd approve of me?" she asked.

"I think they would," he said. "They'd be ecstatic to know I had a girlfriend...provided it doesn't interfere with my studies."

Sheila frowned a bit. Now she really wondered why was he studying so much? Did he really never have time to do fun things after school?

"Do you really never do anything for fun?" she asked.

"Sometimes. I study a lot though," he said.

"What do you do for fun?"

"I like playing games. And the clubs I'm in."

She smiled, glad to know that he had some interests other than studying all the time.

"Maybe we can study together at each other's houses on weekends too?" she suggested. "Given I've transferred in the middle of the semester, I feel really lost and all."

"Happy to help, Sheila," he said. "You can meet my parents."

"And you can meet my grandpa. I know he'd certainly approve of you."

After a few minutes, they relaxed on the couch. Andrew decided to start a conversation.

"So..." Andrew said. "You got a middle name, Funny Girl?"

"Elizabeth," Sheila replied, moving the annoying strand out of her hair.

Brian smiled. "Sheila...Elizabeth..." he said. "It's got a nice ring to it."

Sheila beamed, her cheeks turning pink. "Thank you. So...what's yours?"

"Guess," Brian said smiling lightly.

"Your middle name is Ralph," said Allison, who was leaning against the sculpture. "As in puke."

She began to make her way towards the couch where Brian was sitting down, grinning wide. Brian looked at Allison with an expression of shock, along with Andrew.

"Your birthday is March 12th," she continued, wringing the strap of her bag. "You're 5'9'' and a half. You weigh 130 lbs. And your social security number is...049-36-0913."

"Wow! Are you psychic?" asked Andrew.

"Either that or you stole his wallet," Sheila said sarcastically.

Allison dug into her bag with a big shit eating grin, showing everyone the black wallet that belonged to Brian. The geek went wide eyed.

"I was actually kidding," she added uneasy.

"Hey! Give it to me!" Brian exclaimed.

Allison tossed it to Sheila, which she opened it up. She shook her head in amusement as she saw Brian's ID.

"This is the worst fake ID I've ever seen," Sheila said. "You realize that you made yourself a 68 years old man."

"Yea...I know," Brian said embarrassed. "I goofed it."

"What do you need a fake ID for?" Andrew asked.

"So I can vote," Brian said.

Sheila continued to look through Brian's wallet, finding only $2 and a nudie photo of a woman.

"Ooh!" Sheila taunted, waving the photo in front of him. "What's this?"

"HEY!" Brian yelled, turning bright red. "Give it back! That's MINE!"

He reached to grab the photo, only for the redhead to jiggle it out of his reach, laughing.

"I didn't know you were such a dirty little boy, Brian," Sheila teased, giving a sly smirk.

"What does he have?" Andrew asked curiously.

"Brian's got a nudie shot in his wallet," Sheila said. Then laughed rambunctiously. "Wow! Look at those tits!"

"Alright, let's see!" Andrew said with excitement.

Sheila tossed Andrew the wallet. He looked at it briefly.

"Wow! Didn't take you as the type, Johnson," Andrew said smiling.

The nerd got up and yanked the wallet out of Andrew's hand, angry and embarrassed. He glared at Sheila with fiery blue eyes.

"You are such a...a..." he spat, trying to find the right insult.

"A bitch?" Sheila finished.

"Yea," he said. "You're a BITCH!"

Sheila was shocked and surprised to hear Brian curse like that. Plus the way he said it was harsh. Brian was surprised himself that he had said this. He kinda felt bad for calling Sheila such a rude name, but she provoked him with her teasing and taunting.

"Whoa!" Sheila said.

"What?" Brian asked curiously.

"I've never heard you curse before."

"I do. It's just...I don't like it very much. Plus, you started it!" he replied angry.

"C'mon, Brian," she said. "I was just teasing."

"Like I don't get that enough, Sheila," he mumbled hurt.

Brian looked humiliated; his blue eyes became watery like he was going to cry. Sheila saw the geek's expression and felt terrible. She shouldn't have done that. Even Andrew shook his head with disapproval.

"I'm sorry, Brian," Sheila apologized. "I didn't mean it. I do stupid shit like that sometimes. I forget when to stop myself."

Brian looked with wet, yet appreciative eyes. They were blue like after a rainstorm.

"Thank you," he said in a shaky voice. "Just don't do it again."

"You have my word."

With a sigh, Sheila looked at her other classmates. She saw Claire and Bender were having a conversation about something. But she couldn't tell what it was about.

"This is going to sound really weird, but...today has been the best day I've had in a long time," Sheila said.

"I feel the same way," said Brian.

Claire laughed. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard."

"I'm serious. I had a pretty shitty day to start...but now..." Sheila said.

"I kinda agree with them," Andrew chimed in.

"Well, I'm gonna be here every Saturday for the next two months," Bender said. "You're welcome to join me."

Claire looked over at Sheila as something occurred to her. While everyone seemed to know each other, nobody knew about the new girl.

"Y'know, we've been together all day," she said. "But we really don't know anything about you, Sheila."

"Yea. Tell us some crazy shit you've done, Teacher's Pet," Bender said.

"OK..." Sheila said, sitting up. "One time back home, I was at a party at a friend's house. Someone challenged me to drink an entire bottle of peppermint schnapps."

Claire cringed. "How awful!" she said.

Brian looked over curiously. "What's peppermint schnapps?"

"It's an alcoholic drink, dweeb," Bender said.

"Yea. It tastes like a candy cane," Sheila said.

"So, what happened after that?" Andrew asked.

"I ended up puking halfway through," Sheila said. "According to my friend, she said I yelled 'It's a Christmas miracle!' And kept going anyway. I ended up getting a wicked hangover and my friend's house smelled like peppermint vomit."

Everyone groaned as they heard the Comedian's story.

"Cool," Allison said with a grin.

"Yea. My friend's mom was really pissed," Sheila said. "We lied and told her we ate bad candy canes. I don't think she bought it though."

"Well, I know something..." Allison suddenly said. "...about Sheila that she's not telling us."

All eyes went on Allison when she said this. Sheila's eyes widened as Allison pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her bag, dangling it in front of the group.

"What's that?" asked Andrew.

"Sheila's transfer letter," Allison said.

"HEY!" the Comedian yelled, getting on her feet. "Give it back! It's mine!"

She tried to grab the letter, but Allison held it out of her reach. Sheila's temper began to flare up as the basket case teased her. She didn't want anyone to know her shameful secret about why she was at Shermer.

"Seriously, Allison! It's not funny!" she said, feeling her temper rising.

"Uh-huh..." she said, grinning.

"What gives you the FUCKIN' right to go through my shit?!" Sheila yelled, her face turning red. "That is my personal business! Who the FUCK do you think you are?!"

Everyone stared at the two girls, especially Sheila's terrifying temper. Allison stared wide eyed, looking sheepish. She was about to hand back the letter...only for Bender to pluck it out of her hand.

"Less talking, more reading!" he said with a smirk and quickly scanned it over.

"BENDER!" Sheila shrieked.

"Ahhh..." he said with a grin.

"What is it?" Claire asked.

"According to this letter, seems the rumors are true. Our friend Sheila was expelled from her last school."

Sheila groaned in exasperation as her secret was exposed to her classmates. She turned red in the face, hiding her face in complete shame. She wanted to cry, but she had to keep that Comedy Mask on. If there was one thing she didn't want anyone to see was her crying. That meant weakness.

"Whoa..." Brian exclaimed softly, looking at Sheila. "Even Bender hasn't been expelled."

"Yet," Andrew reminded.

Bender began to read the letter out loud, making up sentences with 'blah blah blah'. It sound worse with each sentence.

"...'Sheila was expelled from Dewey High on the grounds of...'"

"BENDER! LOOK!" Sheila said, pointing to the back of the library.

Instinctively, the criminal turned around; Sheila plucked the letter out of his hand while he was distracted, then tucked it in her pocket.

"I can't believe you fell for that," she said laughing.

Bender smirked. "Well...at least the rumors were mostly true," he said. "Good thing you're not just a poser."

"Mostly?" Sheila said with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, I'd also heard you were a bitch, but I'd say you're more of an asshole."

"Gee, thanks," she responded deadpan.

"What's the difference?" Brian asked curiously.

"There's a very fine, but definite distinction," Bender said.

"Which would be...?"

"Look, Dweeb, I don't have the time to get into the subtleties of derogatory diction with you right now," Bender responded annoyed.

"Now see, Brian, THAT is a fine example of an asshole," Sheila said, pointing to Bender.

"And THAT'S a fine example of a bitch," Bender retorted, pointing to the redhead.

Brian sat there, looking confused as he tried to work out the logic of what was going on as he listened the two of them bicker.

"So...what's the story, Teacher's Pet? Spill it," said Bender.

"You don't have to tell us," Claire said, seeing how uncomfortable the Comedian looked.

"I know why," Allison chimed in.

"Give it a rest, Allison!" Andrew said annoyed.

"She'll tell us when she feels like it," Claire said.

"Why are you so freakin' weird?" Brian said.

"To conform is to die a slow death," Allison answered.

"So, you're weird because you think not being weird is a slow death?" Claire said, raising her eyebrow.

"If you want to know why I'm so weird, then look inside my bag," Allison said.

"No!" Brian and Andrew said together.

"Alrighty. Let's take a look," Sheila answered. "It might be interesting. After all, a woman's purse is often very telling."

Allison grinned, then took a hold of her bag by the bottom and dumped out all the contents on the couch next to Brian. Sheila sat on the table, looking at the tons of stuff that came tumbling out: socks, underwear, a shirt, shampoo, toothpaste, tampons, etc. Sheila picked at the stuff with her red painted chipped fingernails.

"Do you always carry this much shit in your bag?" she asked.

"Yes. I always carry this much shit in my bag," Allison echoed.

Sheila found one thing that was interesting among the mess. She picked up a bus pass that was to NY. One way. She examined it for a moment, then looked at Allison.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked. "NY, perhaps?"

"Maybe. Depends," she answered.

"On what?"

"On how far I wanna get away from here."

"So...what's the deal?" Sheila asked. "Why are you carrying all this shit in your bag?"

"You never know when you may have to jam," Allison said.

"Are you going to be like a shopping bag lady?" Brian said. "Y'know, like sit in alleyways and talk to buildings. Wear men's shoes and that kinda thing?"

"I'll do what I have to," Allison said.

"You're saying that you'd subject yourself to the violent dangers of Chicago streets because your home life is unsatisfying?" Brian asked.

"I don't have to run away and live on the streets," Allison said. "I can run away and go to the ocean. I can go to the country. I can go to the mountains. I can go to Israel. Africa. Afghanistan. Where would you go, Sheila?"

"Probably somewhere fun like an amusement park or maybe join the circus," Sheila answered. "I love roller coasters."

"I love the Ferris wheel," Brian said.

"Yea. That's nice too," Sheila said smiling.

"What job would you want?" Allison asked.

"I dunno..."

"I'd say you'd be a clown," she said with a grin.

Sheila shrugged. "Probably." Then paused, looking at the mysterious girl. "So, why do you want to leave home?"

"My home life is un...satisfying," Allison said, near tears.

"Everyone's home life is unsatisfactory," Andrew said. "If it wasn't, people would live with their parents forever."

"Yea, yea, that I understand," Brian said. "But hers goes beyond what, you know, guys like you and me consider normal unsatisfying."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Sheila said to Brian frowning. "What do YOU consider normal unsatisfying?"

He looked at Sheila with a mixture of confusion. What did he say that upset her? Judging by the angry look he was getting, it was pretty clear what he had said offended her. Allison also looked pretty hurt by this statement.

"Why is your home life unsatisfying?" Sheila asked. "What have your parents done to you?"

"You know what, forget it!" Allison said, pulling all her stuff back in her bag. "Never mind. Everything is cool."

The basket case wiped a tear from her face; her black eye liner became smudged. Her dark eyes became wet. She clutched her bag to her chest.

"What's the deal?" Andrew asked confused at this reaction by the Basket Case.

"There's no deal, sporto! Forget it! Leave me alone!" Allison hissed.

"Wait a minute...if you're carrying around all that crap in your purse, either you want to run away OR you want people to think you're going to run away."

"Eat. Shit!" Allison snapped, getting up to walk away.

Allison got up and walked away. Andrew followed behind her to talk to her. Sheila looked at Brian with an angry glare.

"You...are an asshole, Brian Ralph Johnson!" Sheila said, getting to her feet and stormed away.

Brian looked super confused. He didn't understand what he said. Brian sighed, getting up to his feet to find Sheila sitting alone in one part of the library sulking. She was trying to hold back her angry tears. She had been stuck in this fucking hellhole all day and yet the pressure was getting to her.

"What the hell was that about?" Brian asked furrowing his brow.

The redhead glared at him with emerald daggers. She never saw this side of Brian before: a complete snobby asshole who looked down on others. Or was it because he was trying to be cool in front of Andrew? She didn't know. But what he said was pretty hurtful.

"You honestly think because your home life is unsatisfying," Sheila began with anger in her voice. "You think that everyone else's is not normal. You have no idea, Brian Johnson."

A frown came to Brian's face. "Then tell me, Sheila. What are you saying? That your home life is ABNORMALLY unsatisfying?"

"You know what? There's no such thing as normally or abnormally unsatisfying. You wouldn't know because your fucking parents probably love you and adore having you in their lives!"

Brian got angry. Clearly Sheila had no idea about his home life.

"What is your problem, Sheila? What did I do?"

"There's a reason I don't like talking about my family. They're fucked up that you wouldn't understand. You just see things as normal and abnormal."

"Well why don't you fucking tell me why you don't like talking about your family?" Brian said getting angrier.

"FINE! You wanna know? Here it is! I was an unplanned pregnancy as a result of my parents during the 1960s," Sheila said, feeling tears.

Brian stared with wide blue eyes. He sat down next to her. He was a bit confused by what she meant. While he had known about Sheila telling him they fought a lot, but this was completely out of the ballpark.

"My mother...she was into the whole 'Make Love, Not War' movement. She wasn't in love with my Dad. She wasn't even dating him. What she loved was..."

She stopped herself short, uncertain whether or not she should share this with Brian. Would he think she was some freak or loser if she told him about how fucked up her parents were?

"So if they weren't dating, they were just..."

"Fucking," Sheila interjected. "They were fucking. And it wasn't just with him. She was with random guys as well. My Dad just happened to be the one who got her knocked up."

Brian sat there in stunned silence as he heard the redhead tell him that her parents were just two complete strangers who had no emotional connection between one another. Her mother just enjoyed having sex with random guys.

"My grandparents didn't approve of her behavior," Sheila continued. "So when she got pregnant, they insisted that they get married. My Dad reluctantly agreed to go through with the marriage."

There was a silence between the two of them. Brian was absolutely blown away by Sheila's family: they were so screwed up he had no idea. His family was just as fucked up. His father was barely there in his life. His mother was a nagging Nancy who pressured him to study all the time and wouldn't allow him to have fun. Their marriage was pretty messed up considering his mother emasculated his father a lot as well.

"You never talked about your Dad much. Is he absent from your life?" he asked, tilting his head.

Sheila swallowed as the pained memory came to her mind. Her comedy mask was slipping off. The man she once loved and adored. It was true. He was. Yet, she couldn't let anyone know that yet.

"Actually...he was very much in my life since my mom worked a lot," Sheila said. "I loved him and adored him. He taught me everything: how to ride a bike, fight, play ball...even all of his tricks."

"He sounds like a really nice guy," Brian said; he felt envious that a father like Sheila's would be so loving and caring. Unlike his who didn't want to spend time with him.

"Wanna see a picture of him?"

Brian nodded. Sheila dug into her pocket, pulling out the crinkled photo of her and her dad. It was a Halloween photo of them from 1974. The year she and her Daddy dressed up as the Marx Brothers. He was dressed as Groucho Marx: black hair, a painted on mustache, black duct tape eyebrows, donning round glasses and a cigar between his teeth. Sheila was only six years old and was dressed as Harpo: a curly wig, an oversized plaid shirt, a trenchcoat and a top hat, wearing a bicycle horn around her neck. Brian laughed as he saw the two of them.

"Wow..." he said. "Who are you guys supposed to be?"

"The Marx Brothers," Sheila said. "My Dad is Groucho and I'm Harpo." She began to tell the funniest story about her father. "My Dad has red hair like I do. So he used an entire thing of shoe polish to color his hair black and paint his mustache on. Then he used duct tape on his eyebrows."

Brian sniggered as he listened to the memory.

"By the end of the night, he ended up smelling like shoe polish," Sheila said, starting to laugh. "And he had no eyebrows for a month!"

Brian laughed along with Sheila.

"Well, he had a great sense of humor though," Sheila said. "He'd make every day an adventure for me and make me laugh. My favorite memory of him was whenever I had a nightmare, he'd let me stay up and watch old comedies. He also loved to put on shows for me when I was sick: he'd do funny voices and puppet shows. I'd always feel better when he did this."

Brian smiled as he heard the redhead's reminiscing, yet he was curious as of what happened after her parents got divorced.

"Until what changed?" Brian asked.

He leaned forward, seeing the redhead's eyes starting to brim with tears. He frowned. He wondered what could've happened. She felt a pang of hurt, fighting her tears. She just couldn't hold them back anymore as the memory of her father stung her heart.

"I was ten," Sheila said. "One day, I came home from school, thinking he was hiding so he could scare me like he always does...but he wasn't there. I thought he had to have gone to the store or something."

Brian listened with intensity. More tears rolled down Sheila's freckled cheeks. She looked at the geek, feeling embarrassed that she was crying in front of him. Her mask had completely fallen off.

"All I remember is sitting on the porch step all day...until it got dark," Sheila said in a choked voice. "Then my mom came home and told me he wasn't coming back."

She had completely lost it. She lowered her head, shaking and began to cry. Brian held his arms out to offer her a hug. Sheila pulled herself into Brian, gripping his sweater, her tears soaking the green material.

"He didn't even say goodbye!" she wept. "He didn't even say why he left either. I mean, who the fuck does that?!"

Frowning, Brian felt the redhead's body shudder. He rubbed her back with his hand in a soothing way. He couldn't imagine someone's father who loved and adored their child would just walk away like that. He couldn't imagine being in Sheila's shoes as a ten-year-old, waiting and wondering where her father went, not knowing where he was or when he'd come back. She cried into Brian until her tears were spent.

"Sometimes...I feel it was my fault he left," Sheila said.

"I don't think it was," Brian assured. "From what you told me, it sounded like he loved you very much."

"Yet, he still left!" Sheila said angry. "A loving father wouldn't just leave without an explanation!"

"Why do you think he left?" Brian asked.

"My parents were always fighting when I was little. Mostly it was because he couldn't find work. And he wasted money on shit. He bought things for me to make me happy...and stuff for his acts. I told you he was an entertainer for kids, right?"

Brian nodded, listening to Sheila.

"My Dad had big dreams about being a comedian," Sheila said. "I think he just couldn't handle the fact that he failed. Despite that he had odd jobs, his real passion was comedy. While he entertained at special events, I don't think he felt it wasn't enough."

"So you're saying he left you because...he wanted to follow his dreams?"

Sheila shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe he loved his dreams more than me. Maybe he pretended to be happy about being a father when he really wasn't. But in the end, he never said why."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Three years ago in Detroit," Sheila said, wiping the snot and some tears away. "I was out with some friends and I saw him washing car windows for money. He was in dirty clothes. He saw me and waved to me, but I pretended not to know him."

"He's homeless?"

Sheila nodded, feeling her cheeks flushed.

"So why didn't you wave back?" Brian asked.

"There's a part of me that is angry that he left without any explanation," Sheila said.

"You have every right to be angry that he left," he said. "What he did was unfair to you."

"I know," Sheila answered sadly. "But I can't help that there's still a part of me that still cares about him."


	18. Confession Circle

**2:53 pm**

The detainees had moved from the couches to the back of the library, sitting on the floor in a circle. Claire and Bender leaned against the two columns. Andrew, Allison, Brian and Sheila sat near the banister near the bench.

"What would you do for a million dollars?" Claire began.

"I guess it would have to be as little as possible," Andrew answered.

"BOO!" Bender exclaimed, giving a thumbs down.

"The idea is to search your mind for the absolute limit," Claire said. "Would you go to school naked?"

Andrew chuckled. He said he'd do it in the spring, either the back or front of the school and if he had to get out of the car.

"I'd do it," Sheila answered without hesitancy.

The detainees looked at the redhead incredulously.

"Really?!" Andrew and Brian said together.

"Even in the winter?" Claire asked.

"Mm-hmm," Sheila replied with a mischievous smirk. "Hell, I'll sit at Vernon's desk just to piss him off. Just me and my Converses, propped up on the desk, reading a newspaper. I mean, the man can't use a public toilet without using a paper toilet seat cover. I can only imagine what a bare ass sitting on his office chair would do to him."

"He'd probably blow an aneurysm," Andrew said.

"You are nuts," Claire said.

"Prove it then, Teacher's Pet," Bender challenged with a smirk.

"Show me the money, rich boy," Sheila challenged.

"I'd do it too," Allison said. "I'll do anything sexual. I don't need a million dollars to do it either."

Claire rolled her eyes. "You're lying," she said.

"I've done just about everything there is, except a few things that are illegal," Allison said. Then added with a smirk, "I'm a nymphomaniac."

"Lie," Claire said cynically.

"Are your parents aware of this?" Brian asked shocked.

"The only person I told is my shrink," Allison said.

"And what did they do when you told them?" Sheila asked, leaning forward with interest.

Allison gives a huge shit eating grin. "He nailed me."

"Ew. He's an adult!" Claire exclaimed in disgust

"He's married too."

"Are you crazy?"

"Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing her shrink," Brian said.

"Have you done it?" Allison asked Claire.

"I don't have a psychiatrist," Claire responded with a scoff.

"I mean, have you ever done it with anyone? It's kind of a double edged sword, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Sheila asked.

"If you say you haven't, you're a prude. If you say you have, you're a slut," she answered. "Or...are you a tease?"

"OK. So what about you?" Claire said. "Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love? I mean, don't you want any respect?"

"I don't screw to get respect," Allison answered. "That's the difference between you and me."

"So...what exactly IS the difference between you two?" Sheila asked.

"Well, I think what Allison is trying to say is Claire is a tease," Bender said.

"Is it worse to be a slut or a tease?"

"It's definitely worse to be a tease," Allison said.

"Let's face it, Claire, you're a tease," Bender said.

"I'm NOT a tease," Claire said.

"Sure you are. You said it yourself. Sex is a weapon. You use it to get respect," Bender said.

"No, I haven't said that!" Claire protested, then pointed to Allison. "She twisted my words around."

"Oh then, what do you use it for then?" Bender pressed.

"I don't use it, period!" Claire insisted.

"Are you medically frigid...or is it psychological?"

"I didn't mean it that way! Now you're putting words in my mouth."

"Just answer the question," Sheila said.

"Why don't you answer the question?" Brian said.

"Be honest!" Andrew said.

"No big deal!" Sheila said.

"Yea, answer it!" Bender said.

"Just answer it!"

"Talk to us!"

"Answer the question!"

"Don't be a jerk!"

"It's easy! It's only one question!"

Feeling the pressure mounting, Claire glanced at her taunting classmates who were eager to hear her answer. She clenched her teeth and her cheeks turned red with anger. Then she screamed in frustration:

"NO! I'VE NEVER DID IT!"

The group exchanged a silent look.

"I've never done it either," Allison suddenly said. "I'm not a nymphomaniac. I'm a compulsive liar." Another grin came from the basket case.

"You are such a bitch! You did that just to fuck me over!" Claire seethed.

"You shouldn't lie to people, Allison," Sheila scolded.

"You're just pissed off because she got you to admit something you didn't want to, Claire," Andrew said.

"I would do it though," Allison said. "If you love someone."

Sheila nodded. "I completely agree."

"Have you ever been in love, Sheila?" Claire asked. "I mean, you screwed that kid at band camp."

Sheila sighed. "Well...I've dated several guys, but I don't think I actually loved them."

"So you've NEVER been in love?" Andrew questioned.

"Once or twice," Sheila said. "But it didn't feel genuine to me."

"So you just fucked them?" Bender said matter-of-fact.

Another shrug from the redhead. "It depended on the situation," Sheila answered. "If I liked the guy well enough, I would consider sleeping with them after a few dates."

"You fucked them," Bender said simply.

Sheila sighed in defeat. Since everyone in detention knew about her sexual stance, it was no use hiding it. If it hadn't been for Bender tricking her into revealing her secret earlier today. She was pretty ashamed of what she did back then. She hoped it wouldn't leave detention, yet she didn't expect it to stay a secret.

"OK, fine. I fucked them. Including a select few dates if I liked them enough." She sighed for a moment, moving her hair out of the way. "It does suck though. There's times I wish I hadn't."

"Well, at least you know better now," Allison said shrugging. "Would you ever consider being with someone?"

"I dunno. If I met the right one, yes," Sheila said. "I'd want to take it slow with them. I don't want to make the same mistakes that I did back then."

"Don't you find it bizarre that you slept with all those guys without thought, Sheila?" Claire asked. "Didn't you ever consider their feelings...like that kid back at band camp?"

"What's bizarre?" Andrew said. "I mean we're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are better at hiding it."

"How are you bizarre?" Claire asked.

Allison looked at Andrew for a few minutes and then spoke. "He can't think for himself."

Andrew nodded admitting. "She's right," he said. Then after a beat, he decided to speak. "Do you guys know what I did to get in here?" he said.

Everyone shook their heads.

"I taped Larry Lester's buns together," the athlete confessed.

Claire laughed. Sheila raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"That was you?" Brian said, looking at Andrew incredulously.

"Yea. You know him?" Andrew asked.

"Yea. I know him."

"You know how hairy he is, right?" Andrew continued.

Bender chuckled lightly as he heard this. He apparently knew who this kid Larry Lester was.

"Well, when they pulled the tape off, most of his hair came off...and bits of skin too," Andrew said.

"Oh my God!" Claire said horrified.

Andrew shook his head at the memory. Sheila looked at him inquisitively.

"Why did you do it, Andy?" Sheila asked.

"That's the bizarre thing...I did it for my old man," Andrew said. "I tortured this poor kid because I wanted him to think I was cool. He was always going off about how when he was in school, all the wild things he used to do. I got the feeling he was disappointed that I never cut loose on anyone."

"So your Dad actually wanted you to hurt this kid?" Sheila asked frowning.

Andrew sighed.

"Anyway, I'm sitting in the locker room, taping up my knee. And Larry's undressing a couple lockers down from me. And he's kinda...he's kinda skinny. He's weak. And I started thinking about my father and his attitude towards weakness. And the next thing I knew, I jumped on top of him and started wailing on him. And my friends, they just laughed and cheered me on. And afterwards, when I was sitting in Vernon's office, all I could think of was...Larry's father. And Larry having to go home...and-and explain what happened to him. And...the humiliation. The fucking humiliation that he must've felt. It must've been unreal."

The athlete began to get emotional as he confessed to why he was here. Sheila knew that feeling. She recalled an incident she had done back at her old school. She felt absolutely awful over it. She never told anyone about it either: it was a little revenge/prank that she did to someone, but it went horribly wrong. The poor girl was completely humiliated. Sheila never apologized about it. She began to tear up.

"I mean...how do you apologize for something like that?" Andrew said, tearing up. "There's no way."

Sheila hugged her knees as she reflected on that horrible prank she did to that girl back at her old school.

"It's all because of me...and my old man," Andrew said. "God! I fucking hate him! He's like...he's like this mindless machine that I can't relate to anymore." Then mimicked his father, "'Andrew! You got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family! Your intensity is for shit! Win! Win! WIN!'"

The group was becoming emotional as well. Bender and Claire stared in horror; Sheila and Allison teared up. Brian had his hand covering his face, trying to hide his face.

"You son of a bitch!" Andrew sobbed. "Y'know sometimes I wish my knee would give and I couldn't wrestle anymore. And then he could forget all about me."

Bender clapped a hand on Andrew's shoulder, filled with sympathy.

"I think...your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling," he said.

"Same with my stepdad," Sheila added, wiping her tears away. "He'll buy them some beers. The three of them will be best buddies by the end of the day."

Bender and Andrew both smiled, chuckling.

"As long as Big StepDaddy is picking up the tab for my old man," he said with a laugh.

"Oh I'm sure he'd be happy to do so."

It was then Brian then spoke up.

"It's like me, y'know, with my grades," he said. "Like when I...when I step outside myself and like when I look in at myself, you know. And...and when I see me. I don't like what I see. I really don't."

Sheila hugged her knees as she listened to what the geek had said. She wondered what he was so unhappy about. Usually when they talked, he was always so cheerful. He was very intelligent, he got good grades, he was kind and adorkable.

"What don't you like yourself, Brian?" Sheila asked with a frown.

"Sounds stupid, but..." the nerd spoke. "Because I'm failing shop."

Bender now was looking over at Brian.

"We had this assignment, y'know, to make this, like, ceramic elephant," Brian continued. "And we had eight weeks to do it. And then, y'know, we were supposed to...it was like a lamp. And when, y'know, you pull it, the trunk, the light was supposed to go on. But my light didn't go on."

After a beat, he looked really depressed.

"I got an F on it," he said. "I've never gotten an F in my life."

"Why are you taking shop?" Sheila asked.

"When I signed up," Brian said. "y'know, for the course, I mean...I thought I was playing it real smart, y'know...'cause I thought, y'know, I'll take shop."

"Who told you to take shop?"

"Nobody...I just thought it'll be an easy way to maintain my grade point average."

"Why'd you think it'd be easy?" Bender asked.

"Have you seen some of the dopes that take shop?" Brian said.

"I take shop," Bender said with a frown. "You must be a fuckin' idiot."

"I'm a fucking idiot because I can't make a lamp?" Brian argued.

"No. You're a genius because you can't make a lamp," Bender shot back sarcastically.

"What do you know about trigonometry?" Brian asked.

"I could care LESS about trigonometry," Bender replied.

"Bender, did you know without trigonometry, there'd be no engineering?"

"Without lamps, there'd be no light," Bender argued.

"OK!" Claire said, knowing the argument was going nowhere. "So neither one of you is any better than the other."

"I can write with my toes," Allison piped up. "I also can eat, brush my teeth..."

"With your feet?" Claire said.

"Play 'Heart and Soul' on the piano."

"That's pretty amazing!" Sheila said smiling.

"I can make spaghetti," Brian said.

"What can you do, Andy?" Sheila asked.

"I can, uh...tape all your butt cheeks together," he said.

Everyone laughed at this.

"How 'bout you, Teacher's Pet? What can you do?" Bender asked.

Sheila rubbed her neck. "Um...well, aside from doing voice impressions and pratfalls," she said. She put a finger up to her chin, thinking pensively. "There's one trick my Dad taught me."

"What is it?" Brian asked curiously.

"Yea! Tell us!" Andrew said, quite intrigued.

Bender, Allison and Claire leaned forward, wondering what this talent Sheila's father had taught her. The redhead pointed a finger up to her chin again, looking hesitant.

"Um..." she said.

It was then Sheila started looking around the library for a moment, trying to determine good points of projection that would work in her favor. She glanced over at one corner of the library, turning her head away from everyone, hiding her face with her hair.

"HEY!" yelled the angry voice of Vernon in one corner of the library. "What's goin' on in here?! Where's everyone?!"

The entire group went wide-eyed upon hearing the angry voice of the vice principal, looking around where he could possibly be.

"HOLY SHIT!" Bender exclaimed, getting to his feet. "Dick's back?! I better get the hell outta here!"

"We should get to our seats!" Claire exclaimed.

"Vernon's gonna kill us if we're out of our seats!" Brian said panicking. "We haven't even written our essays!"

Everyone started getting to their feet about to run back to their desks when they heard the raucous laughter coming from the redhead. They stopped in their tracks, looking at her with complete confusion. She was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face.

"What...what's so funny?" Andrew said completely confused.

Sheila kept laughing, clutching her sides. Everyone was completely confused by this reaction. Why was she laughing at a time like this when Vernon could be somewhere in the library looking for them?

"I...I can't believe..." she said, gasping in between laughter. "I can't believe you all thought that was Vernon!"

Everyone looked at each other, still bewildered. Bender looked at the laughing redhead and then tried to work the logic of what had just happened.

"Wait a minute...that was YOU?!" he said.

The redhead was on the floor now, still laughing hysterically.

"How'd you do that?" Brian asked amazed. "It sounded just like him!"

"Well, aside from the many years of practicing voice imitations," Sheila said, wiping her eyes. "My Dad knew some ventriloquism. He used to put on puppet shows for me and entertained kids at his gigs."

"You are SUCH an evil bitch!" Claire seethed. "I can't believe you tricked us like that!"

"It was a great trick though," Andrew said with a small smile. "Pretty sick, but amazing."

Bender was actually smiling. "Pretty fuckin' impressive, Teacher's Pet," he said. "I may have to use your talents for prank phone calls."

Sheila sat back up, catching her breath and wiping her tears away.

"I'll be happy to loan you my many voices," she said. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd get it right this time. I haven't done that trick since middle school."

Everyone sat down in their spots, calming down after the whole 'Vernon Ventriloquist Trick' Sheila had done.

"I wanna see what Claire can do," Bender said.

"I can't do anything," Claire said.

"Sure you can!" Sheila said. "Everyone can do something."

"There's one thing I can do," Claire said. After a beat, she shook her head, "No. Forget it. It's too embarrassing."

"Ever seen _Wild Kingdom_? That guy's been doing that show for like thirty years."

"OK," Claire said. "But you have to swear to God you won't laugh." Claire then reached for her purse to take out a tube of lipstick. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

She took the tube of lipstick and stuck it between the cleavage of her breasts. Shaking her head a bit, she leaned down to apply her lipstick. Once she was done, it was perfect! Everyone was amazed and applauded.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Andrew asked.

"Camp. Seventh grade."

Bender was applauding slowly and sarcastically.

"That was great, Claire," Bender said. "My image of you is totally blown."

"You're a shit!" Sheila hissed.

"Don't do that to her!" Allison defended. "You swore to God you wouldn't laugh!"

"Am I laughing?" Bender said.

"You FUCKIN' prick!" Andrew snapped.

"Why do you care what I think?" Bender retorted harshly. "I don't even count, right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make a difference. I may as well not even exist at this school, remember?"

"He has a point, Andy," Sheila said. "That was really harsh."

"And you..." Bender said, looking at Claire. "...don't even like me."

"You know I have just as many feelings as you do," Claire said. "And it hurts when someone stomps all over them."

"God, you're so pathetic!" Bender said. "Don't you EVER compare yourself to me. You got everything. And I got shit!"

"Oh, how did YOU get shit?!" Sheila scoffed.

"You SHUT the FUCK UP, you FUCKIN' fire bush TWAT!" Bender growled. "You and your BEST friend, fuckin' Rapunzel, there...y'know, the school would probably shut down if SHE didn't show up. Queenie isn't here."

He looked at Claire's earrings.

"I like those earrings there, Claire," Bender said.

"Shut up," Claire said, near tears.

"Are those real diamonds, Claire?"

"Shut up!"

"I bet they are. Did you work for the money...for those earrings?"

"Shut your mouth!"

"Or did your Daddy buy those for you?"

"SHUT UP!"

"I bet he bought those for you. I bet they were a Christmas gift. You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Bender family. I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said..." Bender made it look like he was grabbing his shirt and imitated his father, " 'Hey! Smoke up, Johnny!'"

"Oh YOU want to talk about FUCKIN' Christmas, Bender?!" Sheila argued angrily. "At least you GOT presents! I'm the one who got SHIT!"

"Oh sure! YOU and YOUR FUCKIN' TWO Christmases, Donovan!" Bender mocked with anger. "Boo hoo! Go home and cry to your BIG Stepdaddy and Daddy! Don't cry here!"

"THERE WAS NEVER ANY FUCKIN' TWO CHRISTMASES BECAUSE I NEVER FUCKIN' HAD EM, YOU ASSHOLE!" Sheila seethed between her teeth, pounding the bench. "I haven't gotten a FUCKIN' Christmas gift from MY Daddy in SIX YEARS! NOT EVEN A FUCKING BIRTHDAY CARD! So you just SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT MY DIVORCED PARENTS!"

Everyone was looking at the redhead, who's face had turned the same color as her hair. They were surprised by the amount of rage that came from her. Bender stared silently for a moment. Claire and Andrew looked shocked by this information Sheila had revealed. Allison looked over tearfully, knowing what it was like to be ignored by her parents.

"Oh bullshit!" Bender derided with an eye roll. "Sounds like your Daddy didn't even love you if he never sent you a fucking gift or a card all those years."

"He did love me!" Sheila insisted.

"Oh right. If he really did love you, then why didn't he send you shit?"

"BECAUSE HE FUCKING LEFT!" Sheila exploded.

Her knuckles had turned white; her face was red. Tears began to form in her eyes as she revealed the awful truth about her father.

"He left..." she said, hugging her knees. Then she sighed and continued in a shaky voice, "I even know where he is. The last time I saw him, I was thirteen. He was a homeless bum, cleaning car windows for money. He tried to wave to me once, but because I was with my friends, I pretended I didn't know him. I mean who the fuck does that? Who pretends they don't know their own father."

"I would've," Bender said.

"Did your father ever love you? Raise you? Take care of you?"

"If your Daddy left, it sounds like he didn't love you enough. So the hell with him!" Bender said bluntly. "Quit hero worshipping him and sittin' there waiting for your Daddy to rescue you like you're some fuckin' princess in a tower, Teacher's Pet. You're crying over it because you just can't accept the fact that he left!"

"Bender, you fucking asshole!" Andrew said angry.

"No...Andy," Sheila said, defeated and exhausted from her temper. "Bender's right. I can't accept it. I am just that ten-year-old girl, sitting on a porch back home in Detroit...waiting for her Daddy to come back." She swallowed, more tears fell from her green eyes. Her voice became high and childlike. "A-and he didn't say goodbye...he didn't..."

Sheila couldn't hold back anymore. She hated to cry in front of everyone. Her comedy mask had completely fallen off. All the years of hurt, rage and resentment over the fact that her father left came pouring out. She lowered her head into her knees. She let out a painful wail, muted by her jeans and ran her clawed fingers through her red hair. Her whole body convulsed. Her noisy sobs echoed throughout the library. The sight was horrible as it dawned on the five other detainees that Sheila's life was just as horrible as theirs. Her father abandoned her. Her mother was completely ignorant over the fact that her stepfather was a cruel, manipulative military bully who treated Sheila like shit.

Brian scooted closer to her and rubbed her back soothingly. She lifted her head up, looking at him tearfully, sniffling. Her green eyes were wet like tree leaves after a rainstorm.

"My God!" Andrew said. "Are we going to be like our parents?"

"Not me," Claire said, tears falling down her cheeks. "Ever."

Sheila sat up, wiping her own tears away. "Ditto," she said.

"It's unavoidable," Allison said. "It just happens."

"What happens?" Claire asked.

"When you grow up, your heart dies."

"Who cares?" Bender said apathetically.

"I care," Allison said.

The room became silent as the detainees looked at each other with the question that still hung in the air. Would they become like their parents?


	19. Awful Truths

**The Basement**

Vernon and Carl shared a Prabst Blue Ribbon beer over the many piles of private files scattered on the table; the two men sat on dusty chairs. The vice principal had a lot on his mind. He wondered where to begin. Saturday was exhausting, having to deal with these spoiled little pricks that ended up in detention. Their acts of defiance. With a sigh, he posed the question to Carl.

"What'd you want to be when you were young?" Vernon asked.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be John Lennon," Carl said.

"Carl, don't be a goof," Vernon said. "I'm trying to make a serious point here. I've been teaching here for 22 years...and each year, these kids get more and more arrogant."

"Oh bullshit, man!" Carl scoffed.

"Let me give you a prime example, Carl," Vernon said. "Just earlier today, a teenage girl told me in front of the other students that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. A spoiled fucking teenager!"

Carl huffed. He knew that Vernon had treated all the kids less than shit. They had no respect for him because he gave no respect to them. True, the kids at Shermer were disrespectful shits themselves, but Vernon was worse than them.

"Come on, Vern! These kids haven't changed. You have," Carl said.

The man sighed.

"You took a teaching position because you thought 'cause you thought it'd be fun, right?" Carl said. "Thought you could have summer vacations off. And then you found out it was actually work. It really bummed you out."

Vernon shook his head. "These kids turned on me. They think I'm a big fucking joke."

"C'mon! Listen, Vern, if you were sixteen, what would you think of you?"

"Hey, Carl! You think I give one rat's ass what these kids think of me?"

"Sounds like you do. Seems what that teenage girl told you really got under your skin, Vern."

Vernon took another sip from his beer, looking at Carl.

"If you think about this," Vernon said. "When you get old, these kids are gonna be running the country."

The janitor chuckled. "Yea."

"Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night," Vernon said. "When I get older, these kids are gonna take care of me."

Carl shook his head. Vernon was wrong. He would end up being alone and nobody would care what happened to him if he continued this behavior towards the kids.

"I wouldn't count on it," Carl said sadly.

* * *

**The** **Library**

The silence still hung in the air after the tense moment in the detainees' circle. Brian decided to pose the ultimate question that everyone seemed to be thinking.

"Um, I was just thinking, I mean," Brian commenced. "I know it's kind of a weird time, but I was wondering, um...what's gonna happen to us on Monday...when we're all together again?"

The detainees all looked at the reclining nerd as he posed the ultimate question.

"I mean, I consider all of you my friends," Brian continued. "I'm not wrong, am I?"

"No." Andrew answered truthfully.

"So...so on Monday, what happens?"

"You mean, are we still friends?" Claire asked.

Sheila nodded. "I mean after today, how could we not? Do you really think we could go back to the way things were?" she answered, looking at the six other detainees.

"You want the truth?" Claire said.

"Yes. I want the truth," Brian answered.

"I don't think so."

Hearing these words really cut deep. Brian sucked in his lips, trying to push back tears. Allison was tearing up. Sheila, Bender and Andrew stared quietly as they heard Claire's words hang heavily in the air. How could she say that after all they've been through?

"With all of us or just John?" Allison asked pained.

"With all of us," Claire said truthfully.

"That's a real nice attitude, Claire," Andrew said frowning.

"Be honest, Andy," Claire said. "If Brian came up to you in the hall on Monday, what would you do? I mean picture this: you're there with all the sports. You know exactly what you'd do. You'd say hi to him...and as soon as he left, you'd cut him all up so your friends wouldn't think you liked him."

Brian looked at a frowning Andy. He knew this would likely happen since he had been tormented by jocks and popular kids most of his life. Mocked him for being a goody two shoes, a smarty pants, a Mr. Know-It-All, a nerd. They would ignore him too. Brian would pretend it didn't bother him, but it really did hurt at times. Tears began to form in his eyes.

"What if I came up to you?" Sheila asked, bracing herself.

"The same thing, Sheila," Claire said sadly. "We'd probably call you an ass or a slut behind your back. Then tell our friends what you did to Brian in detention...that you were with him because you felt sorry for him or that you were trying to get into his pants."

Sheila and Brian looked at frowning Andrew. It stung to even be told this. She thinned her lips upon hearing this. She imagined what everyone would think or say if they saw her and Brian walking down the hall, holding hands or sharing a brief kiss. She really wished she never told anyone about her past now.

"No way!" Andrew insisted.

"What if I came up to you?" Allison asked.

"The exact same thing."

"YOU ARE A BITCH!" Bender yelled.

"Why? Because I'm telling the truth?" Claire shot back. "_That_ makes me a bitch?"

"No! 'Cause you know how shitty that is to do to someone!" Bender said angrily. "And you don't have the BALLS to stand up to your friends and tell them you're gonna like who you wanna like."

"OK, what about YOU, you hypocrite?" Claire argued. "How 'bout you take Allison to your heavy metal vomit parties?"

Allison let out a tearful laugh as she heard Claire say this. Brian had tears rolling down his cheeks, which he wiped away occasionally with the back of his hand. Sheila felt like she was going to be sick.

"Or take Brian and Sheila out to the parking lot at lunch to get high or make out?" Claire continued. "What about Andy for that matter? What about me?! What would your friends say if they saw us walking down the hall together? They'd laugh their asses off and you'd tell them you were doing it with me so they'd forgive you for being seen with me."

"Don't you EVER talk about my friends!" Bender growled. "You don't know any of my friends! You don't look at any of my friends! And you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends! So you just stick to the things you know: shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW and your poor...rich...drunk mother in the Caribbean."

Upon hearing this statement, it had obviously hit a nerve for Claire and she convulsed her entire body like a child having an paroxysm. Her face turned redder than her hair.

"SHUT UP!" Claire screeched.

"And as far as being concerned about what's gonna happen when you and I walk down the hallways at school, you can forget it!" Bender continued, jabbing a finger at Claire. "'Cause it's NEVER gonna happen! Just bury your head in the sand and wait for your fuckin' prom!"

"I hate you!" Claire sobbed.

"Yea? Good!" Bender spat.

After a few moments of silence between the detainees, Brian had wet cheeks and glassy blue eyes. Allison's dark eyes were smudged from her black eye liner. Sheila's eyes were like a tree's leaves after a summer rainstorm.

"OK, then I assume Allison, Sheila and I are better people than you guys, huh?" he said softly. "Us weirdos." He looked at Allison. "Would you...would you do that to me?"

"I don't have any friends," Allison said softly.

"Well, if you did."

"No. I don't think the kind of friends I'd have would mind."

"And you, Sheila?"

"I'm going with what Allison said," Sheila answered. "If you went to school with me in Detroit."

"Well, I just wanna tell each of you that I wouldn't do that," Brian said. "I wouldn't and I will not 'cause I think it's real shitty."

"Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us," Claire said.

"So you're saying Brian, Allison and I are below you and Andy?" Sheila said getting angry. "How about Bender for that matter? Are we ALL below you?"

"God! You can be such a mean bitch, Sheila!" Claire said. "I didn't say that!"

Brian shook his head, laughing weakly. It was the weakest excuse bullshit he had ever heard.

"You're so conceited, Claire," he said. "You're so conceited. You're so, like, full of yourself. Why are you like that?"

"I'm not saying that to be conceited!" Claire said sobbing. "I hate it. I hate having to go along with everything my friends say."

"Then why do you do it?" Sheila asked.

"I don't know. I don't..." Claire stammered.

More tears fell from her chocolate brown eyes. Her makeup was completely smudged. She was a complete mess. Her foundation had completely faded away along with her lipstick, making her look pale.

"You don't understand. You don't..." Claire continued, trying to compose herself. "You guys are not friends with the same kinds of people Andy and I are friends with. You know, you just don't understand the pressure they can put you under."

Brian stared with his mouth agape at this sentence, then pointed to himself.

"I don't understand what?" Brian said. "You don't think I don't understand pressure, Claire?" Then he exploded angrily, "Well, fuck you! FUCK YOU!"

The nerd's angry words cut through the atmosphere like a sharp knife. Never had anyone heard Brian curse like that before. Everyone stared in shock and silence. It was then Brian completely broke down, hiding his tearful face in his arm to mask his emotion.

"Y'know why I'm here today?" Brian whimpered, his weepy voice muffled by his sweater sleeve. "Do you?!"

Sheila had wondered what he had done to get detention. She had told him about how everyone always remembered their first time in detention. He never said why he was in detention, but she never asked either. If he was crying like this, it must've been really bad.

Brian sniffled as he thought about his explanation. He was silent for a long time. His shaky hands wiped a few tears from his eyes; there was a drop that rolled down the tip of his nose. His eyelashes were damp and his blue eyes were puffy and red.

"I'm here..." he said, his voice shaky. "Because Mr. Ryan found a gun in my locker."

Everyone stared at him in complete shock. His words hung heavily in the air. It was silent enough to hear a pin drop. All eyes were upon him. Nobody spoke a word.

Sheila's green eyes stared wide with absolute horror. She couldn't believe that this adorable young man she had started to like would do such a thing. The boy with whom she shared the most intimate details of her life. The boy whom she gave his first kiss. She had no idea this was the reason why he was here. Nothing came to mind except why? She couldn't even find the words. They were stuck in her throat.

Andrew dared to ask since nobody was going to. "Why'd you have a gun in your locker?"

"I tried," Brian said sniffling; tears were still flowing from his blue eyes. "When you pull the fuckin'...trunk on it, the light was supposed to go on. It didn't go on."

The geek sat up, curling up in a ball; wet trails streamed down his pale, freckled cheeks. Sheila leaned forward, wanting to know the answer.

"What's the gun for, Brian?" Sheila said intensely.

"Just forget it," he said softly, looking down.

"You brought it up, man!" Andrew said.

Brian wrung his hands, not making any eye contact with anyone.

"I can't have an F," he said softly. "I can't have it. And I know my parents can't have it. Even if I ace the rest of the semester, I'm still only a B. Everything's ruined for me."

Bender was starting to tear up himself when he heard Brian's confession as to why he was in detention. Nobody could believe the happy-go-lucky nerd was under so much pressure to get good grades all because his parents were pushing him to do so.

"Oh Brian..." Claire said.

The nerd smacked at stool, knocking it out of the way. He rubbed his head that was lowered in complete shame.

"I considered my options, you know," he said.

"No! Killing yourself is not an option," Claire insisted.

"Well I didn't do it, did I?" Brian snapped. "No. I don't think so."

"It was a handgun?" Allison said.

"No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker."

"Really?" Andrew said, then started to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Brian said miffed.

Andrew tried to stop laughing, but couldn't help himself. Allison smiled as well. Bender relaxed a bit. Brian's face broke into a smile, chuckling too between sniffles.

"Yes. It is," Brian admitted. "Fuckin' elephant was destroyed."

Sheila got up from her spot, kneeling in front of Brian. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. The thought of losing her friend was terrifying. She had lost one important friend in her life. She couldn't lose another.

"Promise me...you won't ever do that again!" Sheila said shakily.

"I promise," he said honestly.

Sheila hugged him tightly, not wanting to let him go. Brian hugged her back, feeling her frame against his own thin one; her hand rubbed his back. The hug felt so warm and soft. So inviting, loving and caring. No girl ever hugged him like that before. It felt nice.

"You don't have to be perfect for anyone, Brian," Sheila told him. "You already are."

"Thanks," he said softly.

Pulling away, she cupped his face, then brushed the blonde comma away from his forehead. She studied his angelic face: innocent and sweet with wet blue eyes. She kissed away his tears, tasting the salt on her lips. The blond boy blushed with a small smile, letting her do this intimate touch. He brushed a tear away from her cheek with his thumb.

"I think Teacher's Pet is in love," Bender teased. Then sobbed mockingly, "Oh how romantic!"

"Oh shut up!" Sheila said, sitting back down.

She wanted to find out why everyone was here in detention. Aside from knowing Andrew and Brian's story (Bender's she wanted to know if the rumor was true), she posed the question, starting with Allison.

"So what'd you do to get in here, Allison?"

Everyone looked at her with curiosity, eagerly waiting for her answer.

"Nothing. I didn't have anything better to do," she said with a laugh.

Everyone started chuckling upon hearing the answer from the basket case.

"You're laughing at me," Allison said.

"No!" Andrew said, chuckling.

"Yea! You are!"

"Honestly, I thought you would've flipped off a teacher just to get sent here," Sheila said.

"Nope. Just came all by myself because."

Sheila looked at Claire. "What'd you do, Claire?"

"I ditched class to go shopping," she answered.

"Seriously? That's it?!" Andrew said in disbelief.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Claire said. "It's not like I was gonna learn anything in home economics anyway. I shouldn't even be here anyway."

"That's right," Bender remarked sarcastically. "The rules don't apply to Queenie."

"Oh SHUT UP, Bender!" Claire shot back.

"So, is the whole false fire alarm thing true, Bender?" Sheila asked.

"Yup. I figured I'd get a head start on the weekend," Bender answered.

"Honestly, that would've been my third guess of why you got sent here."

"Oh yea? What would've been your FIRST guess?" Bender said with a smirk.

"Um...putting Dick's car on the roof," Sheila joked.

The group began to laugh. A shit eating grin came to the delinquent's face at the idea of pulling a prank like that. He was starting to like the Comedian more and more.

"I might just have to do that someday," he said laughing. "Thanks, Teacher's Pet."

"Don't!" Andrew warned.

"Admit it, Sporto," Bender said. "You'd love to see that shit go down. So, what would've been your second guess?"

"Um...setting something on fire?" Sheila said, shrugging.

"Well, I didn't think those freshman dweebs who saw me would narc. I might have to start a real fire next time."

"Yea...that's the lesson here." Sheila deadpanned. Then cleared her throat. "So, aside from Brian, how many detentions have you all had?"

"I've lost count," Bender answered.

"Obviously, Bender. You hold the world record of most obtained detentions," Andrew said, rolling his eyes.

"Three," Claire answered.

"I go when I'm bored," Allison said, shrugging.

"Two," Andrew said.

"How many have you had, Teacher's Pet?" Bender asked.

Sheila chuckled, her freckled cheeks flushed. The detainees leaned in, eager to hear her answer.

"Ten," she answered.

The detainees stared at the redhead incredulously as she confessed the number of times she had gotten detention in her life.

"Ten?!" Andrew said.

"What the hell did you do to get TEN detentions?" Bender said.

"Well, that's nine from my last school," Sheila said. "I just counted my first one from seventh grade. This one now would make it eleven."

"So how did you end up with that many?" Claire asked.

"According to the teachers at Dewey High, I'm obstreperous," Sheila answered.

There were more dumbfounded stares when they heard this word; Bender mouthed it, looking like a caveman. Then everyone looked at Brian to answer what this very strange word Sheila had used to describe herself.

"Obstreperous means noisy and difficult to control," Brian explained.

"Well, look at my BIG fancy college words!" Bender retorted sarcastically, waving his hands. "You just keep proving you're more of a Teacher's Pet every day, Donovan."

"I was quoting my teachers, Bender," Sheila said, rolling her eyes. "They've sent notes home to my parents about this."

"So what exactly did you do that was considered to be...?" Claire said, trying to remember the word.

"Obstreperous?" Sheila answered. "To name a few, mostly it was joking around or showing off. Cursing. Back talking. Occasional fighting. And playing a few pranks on some teachers and classmates if they deserved it."

"Sounds like you were a class clown," Andrew said.

"Pretty much."

"So, Sheila," Brian said. "What did happen at your last school? Is any of it true?"

"Yea," Bender said in agreement. "Was your 'obsto-whatever' behavior the reason you got expelled from your last school?"

Sheila sighed, knowing this was probably the time to come clean about why she was here at Shermer. Given they had been in detention all day, they didn't know anything about her shame.

"Something like that," she said. "And yes. It's true. I was expelled from my last school."

"Whoa..." Brian exclaimed softly.

"What did you do?" Claire asked, leaning in with interest.

"I got expelled from Dewey High for spray painting something on the school wall," Sheila confessed.

"What was it?" Brian asked curiously.

The redhead giggled as she recalled her past crime. "A smiley face."

"You got kicked out for a smiley face?" Bender said with a frown. "That's it?!"

"Well...it had the principal's name underneath..." Sheila confessed, still giggling. "...and a dick coming out of its mouth."

Everyone began to laugh when they heard Sheila's confess her infamous crime at her former school that caused her expulsion. Bender looked very impressed.

"Well that'll do it, Teacher's Pet," he said, laughing.

"But she totally deserved it," Sheila added.

"What'd she do?" Andrew asked.

"She took away our off-campus privileges. Just to be a bitch."

With a sigh, the redhead threw her head back, relieved she had told everyone. It was like an enormous weight had been lifted off.

"So that's how you ended up here?" Brian asked.

"Sort of," Sheila said. "There's more..."

Another sigh came from the redhead as feelings of resentment came bubbling up about what her family had done to her. She was seething with anger again.

"After I got expelled," she said. "My stepfather basically told my mother that she had to choose between him or me...guess who she fucking picks?"

The detainees looked at her in silence. Bender spoke up.

"So...basically Gold Digger Mommy picked Big Stepdaddy, who's basically the long lost twin brother of Dick, over her own fuckin' daughter?" he said. "What the ACTUAL fuck?!"

Sheila nodded. A bitter feeling in her mouth.

"He basically told her, 'her or me'," Sheila said. "And she FUCKIN' picks him!"

"Scumbag," Andrew remarked with a scoff.

"How could your own mother do that?" Claire exclaimed. "That wasn't fair of your stepfather to do that."

"Chris basically lies to her about me, making me look like shit," Sheila said bitterly. "He even lied to my fucking grandfather about me! Chris told him that I'm a delinquent that needed my ass straightened out!"

"Does your grandpa believe him?" Brian asked.

"Grandpa does think that I need to straighten out my life, given I've been expelled," Sheila said. "Which is kind of true. So this is my last chance because if I fuck up here, my next stop is Calvin Military Academy."

The group stared in absolute horror as they found out about the seriousness of Sheila's situation.

"Holy shit!" Brian exclaimed.

"Are you serious?" Claire said.

"Yea...and the thing is...it was Chris's idea to have me sent to military school if I get kicked out of Shermer."

"That sucks!" Andrew said.

"It's better than prison," Bender said, shrugging nonchalant.

"You've never been to prison," Andrew argued.

"Wanna bet?"

"Well, whatever it's like, I don't wanna go," Sheila said. "It's bad enough Chris treats me like I'm some fucking Army cadet. I would rather stay here at Shermer than become a brainwashed military drone. I heard it's ten times worse there."

"I see no difference between that and prison."

"Grandpa told me that you are punished by doing calisthenics, go on 5 mile runs, have to do kitchen duty."

"So what?" Bender said apathetic.

"And you have to make your bed with fucking HOSPITAL corners!"

"And?"

"You have to get up at 5:00 AM by screaming drill sergeants. There's no comfy detention room. Just doing everything in every weather, rain or shine, hot or cold."

"Point taken."

"The thing is, my grandpa doesn't want me to go either. Yet I'm so afraid to disappoint him. He thinks I should go there IF I do fuck up here. So I can't get kicked out of Shermer."


	20. Papers and Presents

**3:15 pm**

As the clock began to tick down towards 4:00, it was pretty clear Vernon wouldn't be coming back until it was time to let them go.

"What should we do now?" Sheila asked.

Bender shrugged. "Dance party?" he said jokingly.

"That...doesn't sound like a bad idea," Claire agreed.

"C'mon, Brian!" Sheila said, getting up to her feet. "Let's go pick something out."

Brian got up to his feet as well, leading her to where the music room was. Sheila bent over to look at some records. She was secretly smiling, hoping Brian would check her out.

Brian had his back turned to look at some records at first, but when he turned in one direction to look at more records, a small blush crept on his face upon seeing the redhead bent over. He tried his best not to look at her.

Sheila continued to dig through the records. She bit her lip as if trying to hold back a laugh, wondering if he saw her bent over. She could imagine his blushing face!

Brian's blush got slightly darker as he watched Sheila's swaying boyish bottom. God! He hoped she didn't catch him! He felt like such a perv!

"This looks like a good one," Sheila finally said, pulling out a record.

He blinked a few times before clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck as Sheila stood back up.

"I - uh.. yeah it looks pretty good." he said, glancing down at his feet.

Sheila looked at Brian, noticing he was fidgeting. She smirked to herself. He looked so adorkable.

"You go ahead and set it up, Brian," Sheila said, tossing him the record.

Bender and the others were anxiously waiting to see what music they had picked out. They glanced towards the glass room where the two of them had gone.

"YO! Teacher's Pet! Dweeb!" Bender yelled. "You two gettin' it on in there? Save it for another time!"

Brian tugged on the collar of his sweater when he heard Bender shouting, then closed his eyes for a brief moment trying to rid himself of his embarrassment. He felt pretty flustered right now. He nodded his head and went to work, making the record scratch a bit. He adjusted the volume as well.

The song _We are Not Alone_ by Karla DeVito echoed throughout the library. The detainees danced the day away in random places after a long, emotional day of being stuck in detention.

Sheila began to dance. Brian looked over at Sheila as she began to dance. A smile appeared on his face as he joined her. He began to jump around with her, using his free hand to bang rhythmically against the walls. Sheila jumped around with him with a big smile. Her dog tags and house key clinked as she danced. She swayed her hips. Her small breasts bounced a bit. Sweat glazed her forehead; some of her hair stuck to her neck. Her heart was pounding. Her hair flew, giving the impression of flames.

Bender was a complete party animal as he heard the electric guitar. He head banged and shook his head that his dark hair flew all over the place, sitting on top of the sculpture.

Claire danced on the second landing, kicking her legs up, twisting around and spinning around.

Andrew heard the music, he was standing on one of the couches with one foot, and began to play the air guitar, slightly banging his head with the music.

Allison rolled slightly against the statue before she began to dance as well. She spun around, rolling her head with the music before she began to jump along with the music.

Bender continued to dance on the floor. He stomped his feet, jumped around, did some air guitar, spun around. He got sweaty as he danced with her. His wallet chain bounced and clinked wildly. Claire tapped her feet on the carpeted floor of the library. She spun around. She was a great dancer as well.

Brian laughed and continued to dance with Sheila. He was now jumping around, feeling pretty hot now since he was wearing a pretty thick sweater. But he didn't care. He was just in the moment right now.

Andrew tapped on his legs rhythmically with the music. He smiled, he was having the time of his life. It was pretty fun dancing and watching the others have fun as well. Allison was still jumping along with the music. She jumped side to side as her hair swooshed along with the music, her arms slightly waving about.

* * *

After dancing, the detainees sat on the banister, looking worn out from the day. They silently glanced at one another. They realized that none of them had written their essay. Yet, they were all thinking the same thing. It was a complete waste of time to write since everyone would pretty much say the same thing.

"What are we gonna do about the essay?" Claire said. "We haven't written anything."

"Plus I gotta get back to my classroom," Sheila said. "And Bender has to get back to the storage closet."

"Yea, unless..." Bender said, glancing at Sheila.

"Unless what?"

"...you can convince your dorky boyfriend to write the essay FOR us." Bender concluded.

"Boyfriend?" Sheila said surprise. Then scoffed, "No! Brian and I are not...I mean, we barely know each other."

"It's pretty obvious that you like him, Teacher's Pet," Bender said with a smirk.

"Yea. I think Johnson likes you too," Andrew said in agreement.

The redhead blushed. Huh. So Brian did have some feelings for her. She had to admit that spending time with him and talking to him was very nice. She did like him a lot. Glancing over at the blond nerd, she looked uneasy.

"I don't know," Sheila said hesitant. "I don't think it's right to use Brian like that."

"So what?" Bender said. "It's either convince Dweeb to write the essay OR we hand in nothing at all. Then we'll all be in deeper shit than we already are."

Sheila sighed. Bender did have a point. The six of them pretty much wasted their time doing nothing in detention. They pretty much forgot about the essay since the bathroom break. She couldn't imagine what Vernon would think if they handed in nothing. He'd be very angry and probably would give them all detention for next Saturday. And nobody wanted to be here again...well, with the exception of Bender, who was going to be stuck here for about two months.

"I don't know..." she said again.

"Then why don't you give him a present this time?" Bender suggested. "You got him to shut up when we snuck out from the library."

"That was one time! I was panicking at the moment. And I'm not doing that again."

"Would you rather face Vernon? I'm pretty sure Dweeb doesn't want to be here again."

Sheila scoffed. "Well, what do YOU suggest I give him?"

"Pop his cherry and fuck his brains out," Bender suggested jokingly.

Sheila rolled her eyes with a scoff. "I'll talk to him," she said.

Sheila got up from where she was sitting and went towards Brian, leaning against the banister.

"Brian?" she said. "Are you gonna write your paper?"

Brian bit down on his lip as Sheila asked him the question. As he began to think, he realized something was up. Usually when someone had approached him like this, it meant they wanted something from him. People had used him to do their homework for them. He wondered if his new friends were planning on using him for the essay. He really hoped that they weren't.

"Yea. Why?" he asked a bit reluctantly.

"Well," Sheila began. "It's kind of a waste for all of us to write our paper, don't you think?"

"Well that's what Vernon wants us to do," Brian answered.

"True, but I think we'd all kinda say the same thing."

The nerd furrowed his eyebrows for a second as he thought about what he should do. He wasn't fully convinced.

"You just don't want to write the paper, don't you?" he said with a smight smirk.

Sheila giggled mischievously. "I'm no writer," she answered. "But you're the smartest, right?"

Brian blushed a bit, looking flattered as he felt a wave of pride wash over him.

"Oh, well...um..." he said with kind of a cocky smirk.

"And we trust you," Sheila added.

Brian glanced over at the other detainees who gave nods of approval. He contemplated this, imagining the situation. Vernon would not like it if they didn't hand anything in. He wasn't sure if the vice principal would approve of handing in just one essay. He didn't know if it was a good idea at first. Maybe it was? He didn't know what to do right now.

"Wouldn't this be like lying though?" he asked worried.

"Maybe," Sheila said. "But I don't think Vernon would like to read all the same essays either. So maybe combining what we all have to say into one paper would simplify it."

Brian played with his fingers, still unsure. He didn't like lying, especially to Vernon. He was still on the fence about this whole thing.

Sheila had to convince him somehow. Perhaps a little present for him in return for what he would do. She didn't like the idea of manipulating people, especially nice boys like Brian. Perhaps just one last time wouldn't hurt. She vowed never to do it again after detention.

"I'll make a deal with you," Sheila said. "If you write our paper...I'll give you a little present in the back of the library."

Brian's head perked up as he listened to Sheila's offer, wondering what this meant. Now he was certainly interested.

"A-a present?" he asked curiously. "What kind of present?"

A smirk came to the redhead. "You'll see," she answered coyly. "Meet me at the back of the library when you're done writing the essay."

Brian recalled what he and Sheila had done during detention. How she gave him his first kiss. His second kiss with a promise for more. The steamy make out session during study break. He really wanted to do things with a girl. Sheila was very nice to him. Aside from what happened, they had very nice conversations about their lives. He really liked her.

What present was she going to give him though? The prospect was exciting. A smile spread across his face, followed by a slight pink blush.

"OK," Brian said. "I'll do it."

"Thanks...Captain," Sheila said in Lt. Uhura's voice, giving him a peck on the adorable dimple on his cheek.

The nerd blushed, playing with his collar. Oh! She had called him by his favorite character! The redhead giggled at his response. He went over to the desk to get to work.

"What present are you going to give him?" Andrew wondered.

"I bet it's a titty shot," Bender said grinning.

"Shh!" Sheila hissed, not wanting Brian to hear what her surprise for him was going to be.

Eventually, Sheila noticed Claire was staring at her and Allison like she was sizing them up. Claire felt ideas bubbling in her mind as she scanned the red haired country bumpkin and the dark haired basket case.

"Claire...what are you doing?" Sheila asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Looks like Claire's in makeover mode," Andrew commented.

"Oh Lord..." Sheila groaned.

"I can work wonders with anybody's look. Obviously I do my own styling," Claire said.

"Could've fooled me," Sheila muttered under her breath.

"And I came up with Andy's new hairstyle," Claire continued.

"What'd it look like before?" Bender asked with a chuckle, imagining how dorky it looked.

"Shut up!" Andrew snapped.

"I think it looks nice," Allison said, looking at Andrew's hair.

"Thanks," the athlete said flattered.

Claire kept her focus on the two girls: Allison and Sheila. They were both a mess. Sheila's eyes were still red from crying. Her makeup had faded away. Allison was in the most desperate need of it too. Her eyeliner was smudged. Her hair was in her face.

"You've got solid foundation, Sheila," Claire said, looking at her skin. "Your eyes are your best feature. Your cheekbones. Your hair."

"Um...thanks?" the Comedian responded.

"But I have some great ideas how to make you look even hotter than you already are. Don't you want to impress Brian?"

Sheila was about to protest, but decided that it was no use denying it. Everyone knew how much she liked that adorable nerd.

"Well, I think Brian finds me hot enough," Sheila said. "I think a makeover might make him...spontaneously combust."

"So what?" Bender said. "You already promised Dweeb a titty shot. THAT might do the trick."

"Shut UP!" Sheila hissed, elbowing Bender in the ribs. She was worried Brian might have Vulcan hearing.

"What do you say, Sheila?" Claire said. "Do you want a makeover?"

Sheila thought about it. She figured just one time couldn't hurt. Maybe she could use a few tips on what she should wear. Normally she didn't wear too much make up, but what the hell? It would be one time. Ugh! She did

"Alright..." Sheila agreed reluctantly. "Just this once. But no dresses or skirts! if I see one, I'm done."

"Great!" Claire said smiling. "Don't worry, Sheila. I think I might have something that would suit you."

Bender chuckled at the Comedian's reaction. It was so amusing to see her get frustrated and annoyed over things that were girly.

"Don't make her too hot, Queenie," Bender said. "She might give Dweeb a heart attack by the end of the day."

"Oh shush!" Andrew said shoving him lightly.

"You're coming with me too." Claire said, looking over at Allison.

"Me?" Allison said hesitantly.

"Mm-hmm," the princess said.

* * *

**The Glass Room**

Claire led the two girls to the glass room to start her makeover. Sheila leaned against the wall, waiting for her turn while Claire worked on Allison first.

Claire instructed Allison to get rid of her black sweater and ugly nun-like button up shirt. Underneath, she wore a pure white shirt. Claire smiled, pleased that this could work. Claire took out a scarf from her purse and used it to put Allison's dark hair back so her face would be seen better. She smiled. She actually looked better without hiding.

Claire took out her makeup, laying it out on a desk. She picked up some eye liner first and applied it expertly to Allison.

"Don't be afraid," Claire said softly.

"Don't stick that in my eye!" Allison grumbled.

"I'm not sticking it," Claire assured. "Just...close your eyes. Just go like this."

She demonstrated how. Allison copied the princess's actions, relaxing a bit. She was so tense since she was not used to this kind of treatment. Claire squeaked in absolute delight as she continued the basket case's makeover.

"You look a lot better than with all that black shit on," Claire said.

"Hey!" Allison exclaimed. "I love that black shit."

"OK, now look up," Claire said, applying mascara.

Sheila smiled as she watched Allison transform from an ugly ducking into a graceful swan. She had to admit she did like her new look better.

"You look great either way, Allison," Sheila said. "But this new style is...wow."

"Thanks, Sheila...I still kinda like my old look," Allison said.

"There's no harm in enjoying a makeover for a day," Sheila said. "You can always go back to your old look anytime."

"I bet Andrew would like this," Claire said.

"Andrew? What's that got to do with anything?" Allison said frowning.

"Don't play dumb. I've seen the way you've been looking at him all day."

"Do you think he'd really go for someone like me?" Allison said uneasy.

"Yea...he's a pretty cool dude," Sheila agreed. "And he's pretty chivalrous for a jock."

After a beat, she turned to Claire.

"And what bout you, Claire? You can practically cut the sexual tension between you and Bender with a knife," Sheila said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You know exactly what she's talking about," Allison said smirking.

The princess rolled her eyes. "Please. I can't stand him," she scoffed. "Do YOU think he likes me?"

The two girls exchanged knowing glances.

"What-ever," Claire said. "You and Brian have been talking a LOT, Sheila"

The redhead's freckled cheeks turned the same color as her hair.

"I...Brian makes me very comfortable," Sheila answered.

"He's a very nice boy," Claire said.

She chuckled. "Yea."

"He'd treat you like a queen," Allison said.

Claire shifted her attention to the Comedian.

"OK. Your turn, Sheila. The secret is not to go overboard. Less is more," Claire said.

"Well, I barely wear anything," Sheila said. Then added sarcastically, "OK, Fairy Godmother. Let's get this over with. I gotta get my ballgown and glass slippers on for the ball tonight."

Claire went to work her makeover magic on the Comedian, selecting a few colors of eye shadow that would bring out her green eyes. Sheila tried to stay relaxed, twitching slightly at the feeling of someone touching her face. She followed Claire's instructions as best as she could.

Next, Claire applied a bit of foundation that would cover up some of Sheila's freckles. Just enough to show a few. And finally, she used a lipstick that would be appropriate for the bumpkin Comedian. Once done, she looked at Sheila's nails.

"Someday," Claire said. "I'll give you a manicure."

"Don't bother," Sheila said. "It'll be ruined in a couple days from all the chores I do at Grandpa's."

Claire dug out a sleeveless burgundy shirt for Sheila. She reluctantly accepted it. Brian should at least see a bit of skin before unveiling the main event.

"Where'd you get these awesome outfits?" Sheila asked.

"I found out where the drama department keeps their extra costumes," Claire answered with a smile. "They were just sitting there not being used so...I kinda helped myself."

Sheila pulled off her t-shirt. She kinda was glad to be rid of it since it was dirty and sweaty from being in the heating vents she and Bender crawled through earlier.

Allison smiled as she saw Sheila's new look.

"Sheila...you look amazing," Allison said.

"This could be my most successful makeover ever," Claire said, looking very pleased with herself. "Let's go see what everyone else thinks."

* * *

**The Library**

Brian sat at his desk, deep in thought about what he was going to write. Then he came up with some carefully thought out words and began to write. He stopped a few times to think about his choice of words. Once he found them, he continued to write once again. He wanted this essay to be perfect for both the others and Vernon's standards.

While the nerd was hunched over working away on the essay, he was completely unaware of the delinquent and the athlete's conversation as they wiled away the remaining minutes of detention.

"I bet Dweeb's excited over the prospect of seeing a nude girl for the first time," Bender said. "I bet you a million dollars he blows his load."

"Not exactly" Andrew said with a grin.

Bender looked dumbfounded. "What do you mean, Sporto?"

"Sometime after study break, Allison, Sheila and I found a nudie photo in his wallet."

Bender scoffed. "Yea, right. Probably from National Geographic."

"Does National Geographic have beaver shots?" Andrew said with a grin.

Bender's mouth dropped open in shock, then it spread into a pleased smile.

"Wow," Bender said. "Gotta say it makes me proud to know Dweeb isn't a complete choirboy."

Andrew chuckled. "Yea...who knew?"

Bender cleared his throat. He had been making some observations on the rest of the detainees. Andrew and Allison had quite an intimate conversation after the study break. He had been looking at her throughout detention too.

"So...I noticed you were checkin' out Quiet Girl, Sporto," Bender began.

Andrew looked up from playing with the pendant on his neck. His cheeks flushed slightly with annoyance...or was it embarrassment?

"So?" Andrew shot back.

"You were checking her out...like a library book."

A scoff came from the athlete. "And YOU were checking out Claire."

"That's because I have nothing to hide," Bender said. "Quiet Girl certainly is a tasty dish, huh, Sporto?"

"Shut up!" Andrew snapped.

"Oh! Look at how rosy your cheeks are!" Bender teased.

After a few minutes of silence, the criminal scooted towards Andrew, putting his arm around him with a fatherly look on his face.

"Don't forget, son..." Bender said in a fatherlike voice. "...to wash your balls and use a rubber."

The athlete shoved Bender away, suppressing a laugh and got up and moved away from him. He was seriously getting fed up with his quips. Andrew played with his pendant as he sat alone. What Bender said was true. He recalled the conversation with Allison after she got all upset over the stuff in her bag. How she told Andrew her parents ignored her. He felt sad when he heard this. There were times he wished his parents would stop ragging on him about competing (well, mostly his father).

Feeling great about themselves, the girls made a grand entrance to unveil their new look to the rest of the group: Allison with her hair pulled back as she made her grand entrance into the library.

Andrew looked stunned upon seeing Allison. She was no longer the dark, moody, closed-off girl. She looked more lighter and more open. As she walked past Brian, their eyes connected. The lock of shock on his face elicited a glare from her. He changed his expression to a big grin, letting her know her makeover was a success. She smiled and silently nodded the words 'thank you'.

"What happened to you?" Andrew said.

"What? Claire did it!" Allison replied quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just so...different," the athlete said. "I can see your face."

"Is that good or bad?"

Andrew let out a small laugh. "It's good."

Allison smiled as their hands brushed together.

Next, Sheila came out after Allison since she felt she deserved her grand entrance first. She had new clothes and a new look. Bender wolf whistled upon seeing the redhead. Brian's eyes went up when he heard Bender's whistle and widened at the sight of Sheila.

"You look amazing," Brian said, blushing.

"Seriously, so good!" Andrew said.

"I'm not really in the compliment business...but I gotta say you ladies are smokin'," Bender said with a smirk.

"Thanks, guys," Sheila said.

"It was all Claire," Allison added.

"Well, an artist can't work her magic without great subjects," Claire said.

Over at the table, Brian tapped his pencil, thinking. Sheila sauntered over sexily.

"Hey, Captain," she said.

The nerd looked up when he heard Sheila refer to a nickname for him.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"Almost done," Brian said. "There's just one more thing...I came up with a description for each of us. Kind of like the way Vernon sees us...without really seeing us. There's the Brain: that's me. Andrew is the Athlete. Allison's the Basket Case. Claire is the Princess. and Bender's the Criminal. The only one I have left is you.. Thought I'd let you decide what you wanted to be called.

With a smirk. she thought about what Vernon called her upon arriving late.

Miss Comedian.

"How about the Comedian?" Sheila said. "I'll do anything to get a laugh, regardless of the consequences."

The nerd nodded approvingly and went back to work.

"See you in the back of the library," Sheila said, giving him a wink.

"O-OK," Brian said, blushing.

"You better make it fast, Teacher's Pet," Bender said. "We're cutting it kinda close to getting you back to your classroom."

Sheila nodded. "Don't worry, I'll make it fast," she promised.

She went to a more private back part of the library, waiting for Brian.

Eventually Brian finished the essay. He looked over his work with a smile, giving the paper a kiss. Now he had to get to the back of the library where he was sure Sheila was waiting to give him her surprise. His heart was racing. His palms were clammy.

He found the redhead fingering through some books, humming some classical music. He recognized it as Handel's _Messiah_, the _Hallelujah_ chorus. Odd. He wondered what got her in such a mood for this kind of music.

"Hey," he said softly.

Sheila looked up when she heard his voice. She was already picturing his reaction while she had carefully planned this surprise for him.

"Hey, Brian!" she said, smiling. "You made it."

"So...what's this preview you have for me?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

The redhead responded with a naughty smirk. She made a 'come here' gesture with her finger. Brian trembled with a blush. He had no idea what to expect. As if being pulled by an invisible string, he went towards her.

"Stand right here," she told him.

She put her hands on his shoulders to guide him to a specific spot where she wanted him to stand. Next, she took a step back, having her back towards the library. She looked at the blond boy who was fidgeting with his fingers.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," he answered, biting his lip.

Another naughty smirk spread across Sheila's face. She had to admit that the nudie photo in his wallet kind of inspired her. Given he had seen a naked woman before, she had to wonder how he'd react if he saw the real deal.

Brian's blue eyes watched the redhead. He was sweating and blushing, wondering what this surprise could be. Biting his lip, he anxiously awaited to see what she was going to do. He was nervous yet excited at the same time.

Sheila reached for the hem of her shirt, humming the first few notes Handel's _Hallelujah_. As if to build the anticipation, she slowly lifted her shirt up...making it look like a curtain was rising. As he watched the redhead, he was a little confused at first at what she was doing.

By the time she reached the first note of the 'Hallelujah' chorus, in a flash, Sheila pulled her shirt up and exposed her topless half to him with a smile like the woman in the nudie photo.

Upon realization, the nerd went wide eyed like they were about to pop out of his head. He blinked a couple of times and his mouth kind of hung open. His face turned completely red upon seeing her in all her glory! He actually heard the _Hallelujah_ chorus when he gazed upon her exposed top: her breasts were small and pale with pink nipples that stood like pencil erasers. Her dog tags and house key dangled between the cleavage.

Given he had seen women in his dirty magazines, this was way better in real life. The boy cleared his throat and blinked a few times before speaking. His cheeks were burning. He was pretty flustered at this point: a girl had kissed him, made out with him and now exposed her breasts to him.

"I - um...that was...w-w-wow," was all he could manage to say, rubbing his neck.

He fidgeted, feeling sweaty. As he felt heat up his neck, he tugged the collar of his crew neck sweater. This certainly was quite a surprise! After a few seconds, she lowered her top and stepped towards him.

"Enjoy the view?" she asked while adjusting herself back into her bra.

"Y-yea," he said, shifting in his spot and fiddling with his collar. "Why'd you do that though?"

Sheila shrugged. "Let's just say your little naughty photo was an inspiration," she answered. "I thought I'd give you something to take home with you."

He blushed even more at this. The image of her burned in his memory now. He still had to wonder where this was going though. Given she had kissed him during detention and now she had shown herself to him, this had to mean something.

Sheila giggled at his adorable reaction, then held his hand and thread her fingers in his long ones. She brushed her nose against his and kissed him.

"Yo! Teacher's Pet! Finish up whatever you're doing!" Bender called. "Your Seven Minutes in Heaven with Dweeb are up! You can wrap your legs around him another time!"

It was now Sheila's turn to blush when she heard Bender shouting: her face turned redder than her hair. Seriously?! God! Why did he have to make this so embarrassing? Brian heard Bender's voice and he was just as embarrassed. The detainees couldn't help but laugh a bit as Bender yelled at Sheila and Brian to wrap up whatever they were doing. They were back there for a while honestly.

"Guess I have to go now," Sheila said. "I guess we'll see each other soon, huh?"

"Y-yea," he said softly. "I hope so."

The two of them came towards the front with a complete walk of shame. It was pretty obvious to Bender what had occurred upon seeing the blushing geek's face. He was grinning in absolute delight as he saw the pair doing the famous walk.

"Oh hey, LO-VERS!" Bender teased. His dark eyes turned to Brian, who was a blushing mess. "So...what was your present, Dweeb?"

"Never YOU mind!" Sheila said. "It's for Brian to know and for YOU to never find out, Bender."

The delinquent gave a huge shit eating grin. He decided to push it in hopes of getting an answer out of either of them. "I bet it was a tit shot, right, Dweeb?"

Brian twitched, turning even more red upon hearing this. He didn't answer Bender's question, despite he was an obvious flustered mess. He wasn't going to tell anyone what happened back there. This made the criminal grin in delight.

"I knew it!" he said. "You got to see Sheila's twins, Johnson."

"Oh shut up!" Claire and Sheila said together.

"Yeah, j-just stop talking..." Brian said, tugging his collar.

Andrew nodded his head, agreeing with Claire, yet laughing at the situation at the same time. Poor little nerd was so embarrassed. But he kinda had an inkling of what they did back there.

"Let's get you back to your classroom, Teacher's Pet," Bender said. "Vernon's gonna be comin' for you soon."

"Sounds like my worst nightmare," Sheila quipped.

Everyone laughed upon hearing this.

"Thanks again, Sheila," Claire said. "You really saved us in the hallways. "

"Yea. We owe you one," Andrew said in agreement.

Allison and Brian nodded together.

"Guess I'll see you guys on Monday," Sheila said.

Bender led the redhead towards the second floor to a bookshelf that was in just the right position. Bender and Sheila stood on the table, positioning themselves in the right spot so they could leave.

"Need a boost?" he asked.

"Huh?" Sheila asked.

"Back into the vents."

"Oh! Yea...right!" the redhead answered, feeling dumb. "Yea. Thanks."

Sheila took one last glance around the library. She sighed. It was a shame she had to stay an extra seven minutes.

Bender helped Sheila onto the bookshelf. From there, Bender opened the vent, lifting the girl in his strong arms so she could climb back up into the ceiling vent. They crawled carefully so they wouldn't fall again.

"This was a pretty good day with you guys," Sheila admitted.

"You're a pretty cool chick yourself, Teacher's Pet," Bender said smirking.

"Thanks. Maybe we can hang out more," Sheila said. "I have a lot of prank ideas for Vernon."

Bender perked up on hearing this. He was thrilled to hear that the new girl was a fellow prankster.

"Great!" he said. "I can't wait to hear them."

"Well...I have to confess. I unscrewed his coffee mug earlier in his office when he was yelling at you in the closet," Sheila said blushing.

Bender chuckled, imagining the whole thing going down. He wished he could've seen the aftermath.

"You're an evil little girl, Teacher's Pet," he said.

"What I'm looking forward to is Senior Prank Day."

"Good luck with that," Bender said. "Dick banned Senior Prank Day on account of what I did in my sophomore year."

"What'd you do?" the redhead asked curiously.

"There was this one time during Senior Prank Day where I snuck out super early to steal some barnyard animals...sheep, chickens, goats, a few pigs..." Bender said as he told his story. "Now, I'm not for one to get up early, but this was worth doing. So I got there super early and released the animals inside Shermer."

"So what happened?"

"I was suspended for a week," Bender said.

The redhead held in her laughter as she imagined the whole scene going down. She wished she had come to Shermer earlier. Perhaps she would've met the detainees in detention. She really felt she belonged here at Shermer. She had new friends.

She could only hope they didn't forget about her.


	21. Sincerely Yours

**3:50 pm**

Only ten minutes left until Vernon would let the detainees go. The four of them sat at their desks for the remaining few minutes of detention.

"Guys," Andrew said. "Once we're outta here, I think we should all go to Stubbie's party tonight."

Allison and Brian looked nervously at one another since they had never been invited to a party, especially one with the cool kids. Brian bit down on his lip, shrugging his shoulders. He was thinking about going, but he was so nervous that people might stare at him and make fun of him; he was considered a nerd after all.

"A-are you sure?" Brian asked.

"Yea. Why not?" Claire said. "We'll invite Sheila and John when they get out."

After a beat, the princess looked at the clock, knowing she had some time. Feeling rebellious, she went across the hall to Vernon's office; not before checking for signs of the hated vice principal. She found the storage closet and unlocked the door.

* * *

**The Storage Closet**  
**Vernon's Office**

Bender heard the click of the lock from outside the closet door. He began to curl up in trepidation, thinking it was Vernon. After the whole incident in the closet with the man yelling at him and threatening to 'kick the shit outta him' and 'knock his dick in the dirt', he was terrified.

It was then he saw Claire standing there. She had a coy look on her face. He completely relaxed, putting on the cool guy image.

"You lost?" Bender asked with a charming smirk.

The cherry head stepped up to Bender, leaned forward and began to kiss his neck. She inhaled the scent of his ragged plaid shirt: motor oil, sawdust, cigarettes, dope and body odor. Despite his smell, she didn't care.

The criminal looked completely confused by this gesture.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked softly.

"Because I knew you wouldn't," Claire answered.

"You know how you said your parents use you to get back at each other?" Bender said. "Wouldn't I be _outstanding_ in the capacity?"

"Were you really disgusted with what I did with my lipstick?" Claire asked.

"Truth?"

She nodded. "Truth."

He nodded his head, still smirking. "No."

* * *

**4:00 pm**  
**The Basement**

Vernon had fallen asleep in the dusty chair, holding his empty beer can in his hand and surrounded by the students' private files. He blinked his eyes, waking up. He felt stiff. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch, realizing the time.

Shit! He was going to be late releasing the detainees from detention.

"I hope they go easy on me," he sighed.

He quickly picked up the strewn files and put them back in the filing cabinets. Slinging his sport coat over his arm, he went to let the detainees go.

* * *

**The Library**

"It's 4:00," Brian said, looking at the clock. "Vernon hasn't let us go yet."

"You think that dickhead forgot about us?" Allison wondered aloud.

"If Dick hasn't show up already, we can go," Bender said shrugging.

"A-are you sure?" Brian asked nervously.

"Hey, Dweeb, Dick can't do nothing about it. He can't keep us here all day."

"What about Sheila? She has to stay seven more minutes."

"Well, why don't you hop on your white horse and rescue her, Prince Valiant?" Bender remarked sarcastically, gesturing to the door.

"Vernon might get mad though," Brian said nervously.

"We can wait for her until Vernon lets her go," Andrew suggested.

The detainees packed up their things And headed towards the entrance of the school. They passed Carl in the hallway. Brian gave him a smile.

"See you next Saturday, man," Bender said.

Carl chuckled in amusement at this and watched the detainees leave detention as a group together. He leaned against his broom as he recalled how they all entered the library, complete strangers and they were all leaving detention together as best friends.

Vernon arrived and was about to announce they were free to go...only to find the library empty. On the desk where Brian sat was a single sheet of paper.

_Goddammit_! he thought.

He still had the delinquent and the red haired miscreant locked away. Upon checking his office, he noticed Bender had gotten out. He frowned again.

Spoiled little pricks! Someone had let Bender out of his cage.

Sighing, he looked at his watch. In about seven minutes, he had to let that spoiled little Army brat Donovan go. He only hoped her little time out taught her a lesson.

* * *

**4:07 pm**  
**Room 201**

Sheila sat in her empty classroom after Bender helped her sneak back in, waiting for Vernon to release her for the day. It really sucked that she had to sit here for seven more minutes just because she got lost. Sighing, she swung her legs and rested her head on her chin.

At exactly this time, the door unlocked and the vice principal finally appeared. He stared at Sheila oddly, noticing her clothes were different.

"Is that what you were wearing earlier?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Um...yea," Sheila said, looking down at her outfit. "Why?"

The man looked a little confused, but he shook it off.

"Alright, Donovan," he said. "You're free to go." Then he added with a frown, "Your buddy, Brian, wrote an essay for you. I hope you learned something today."

The redhead stood up from her desk and gathered her things. She looked at the man.

"Actually, I learned a lot today," Sheila replied.

"Really? And what exactly did you learn?" he asked.

Sheila looked at Vernon dead in the eye. She knew exactly what he was.

"We learned that we don't need you," Sheila answered. "You're a bully. Not a teacher. And you may have wasted our Saturday, but you have wasted your life."

Sheila blew Vernon a sarcastic kiss. With a flip of her red hair, she flounced past him and out of the classroom to leave him standing there with a shocked expression. She was glad to be free from this man for now.

As Sheila headed down the hall, she saw the rest of the gang, standing in front of the entrance.

"You guys waited for me?" Sheila said surprised.

"Of course we did," Claire said.

"What do you think we're animals?" Andrew joked.

"Technically, we are animals," Brian said.

"Nerd!" Allison teased.

"Hey! Don't call him that!" Bender quipped.

"Thanks," Brian said, looking grateful.

"He's a Dweeb. Not a nerd," Bender added with a playful smirk.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Andrew said.

They were about to walk out when Sheila realized something...

"Wait!" Sheila exclaimed. "I forgot something in the library!"

She ran back to the library to look for her caricature of Vernon that she sketched. She was hoping and praying that the vice principal didn't find it. She looked under her seat and around her desk, her heart was pounding wildly. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she frantically searched for it.

She heard some footsteps behind her, making her look up. She feared it was Vernon who was going to yell at her for what she said to him earlier or show her that he found her drawing...but instead, she saw blue Nike sneakers.

"Are you looking for this?" the soft voice asked, reaching into his pocket.

Sheila looked up to see there was Brian, holding a wrinkled, folded paper between his pinched fingers. She opened it and realized it was her sketch. She sighed with relief, ever glad he found it and not Vernon.

"W-where...?" Sheila was about to ask.

"You dropped it when you were packing up your stuff after Vernon banned you from the library," Brian said. "Sorry it's wrinkled. I didn't have time to hide it so I had to sit on it."

The redhead smiled appreciatively, tucking the sketch into her backpack. Brian rubbed his neck, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he recalled the events of today. How much he enjoyed their conversations, those intimate moments, the whole 8 hours together in detention. He could feel the blush from his neck to the tips of his ears, the heat warming up his face.

"I have to say, I had a really good time talking to you today...along with other stuff," Brian said.

Sheila looked at him silently with green eyes as he put his hands in his pockets.

"And hopefully we get to see more of each other," Brian continued.

The redhead blushed, smiling. "Yea...hopefully a LOT more," Sheila said, giving him a wink.

The blond boy turned bright red upon hearing this prospect. He was shifting nervously, rubbing his neck; wiping his clammy hands on his pants. Sheila giggled at his response. He was just so adorkable!

"O-oh! I...I...uh..." he stammered. "I wasn't expecting that answer."

"Guess when you hang out with me, you've got to expect the unexpected," Sheila said, grinning.

"R-right..." he said, tugging his collar as he recalled the tit shot she had given him. "Got it. OK."

Brian took out a piece of paper and his pen.

"If you want to talk, here's my phone number," he said. "Don't call too late. My mom puts my sister down around seven."

He wrote his number on the paper and handed it to Sheila. The redhead nodded. She handed him her number, not before planting a berry colored lip print on the paper.

"Here's mine," Sheila said.

The nerd blushed upon seeing the lip print next to Sheila's number.

"Oh! And if an old guy answers the phone," Sheila said. "Make sure you speak clearly. My grandfather is hard of hearing. And be sure to call him Joseph. Not Joe. He hates that."

"Got it. Um...thank you," Brian replied. He looked down for a moment. "Are you going to Stubbie's party tonight?"

"Maybe..." Sheila said. "I hadn't thought about it."

"Well...if you are, I might go. I don't normally go. But I heard his parties are pretty happening. Maybe I'll see you there."

"OK..."

Sheila watched as Brian turned to leave.

"Wait!" she called, making him stop in his tracks. "Let's walk out together."

"T-together?" he said.

"Mm hmm!"

The redhead stepped up to him, standing on her toes to give him a playful kiss on the lips. Brian blushed. It would take him a while to get used to kissing. Then she took his hand and walked out to the front of the school with the rest of the gang. Once outside, she noted the few cars that were there to pick them up. She stood on the steps with Brian. The two of them faced each other, looking into each other's eyes. His blues and her greens. Looking at his green sweater, he wrapped it around Sheila's shoulders. She looked down at it, then back at Brian with a slightly confused look.

"For me?" she said.

"I want you to have it," he said. "So you won't forget me."

"Hell, I wouldn't forget you," she said with a light chuckle.

She pulled him by his yellow knit scarf, giving him a polite kiss, seeing that Brian's father was here already, waiting in the driver's seat. She figured she would send him off with a kiss.

"See you around, Captain," Sheila said.

The nerd chuckled at this reference. He was liking his new nickname that Sheila had given him. He gave a smirk that showed off the dimple in his cheek.

"At ease, Lt. Uhura," Brian said.

Sheila giggled lightly, then caressed his cheek one last time before heading headed towards her grandfather's Buick. Brian got into the front seat of the car where Mr. Johnson was waiting. His father looked on at the scene, watching the redhead leave who was with his son.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Just a girl I'm really close with," Brian answered, sitting down and buckling up.

Sheila caught sight of Claire and Bender, sharing a kiss as she got into Joseph's car...she took her earring out and handed it to Bender.

When her grandfather drove away, she saw Andrew and Allison kissing too. It was then, she saw Allison pull off a patch from his letterman jacket sleeve before getting into her dad's car.

Seemed like everyone had fallen in love during detention.

* * *

**The Library**

Vernon stood alone in the vast room where the detainees once were, holding the essay that Brian had written. With a furrowed brow, His gray eyes scanned the neat handwriting of the words Brian Johnson had written.

_Dear Mr. Vernon,_

_We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us...in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is..._

Brian: _A brian..._

Andrew: _And an athlete..._

Allison: _...a basket case..._

Claire:_...a princess..._

Bender:_..a criminal..._

Sheila: _...and a comedian._

_Does that answer your question?_

_Sincerely yours,_

_The Breakfast Club_

Vernon finished reading the essay...then crumbled it into a ball and tossed it into the trashcan with a frown.

"Who the hell do they think they are?" he grumbled. "Bunch of spoiled little pricks. We'll see how clever they think they are come Monday..."

He stormed towards his office, muttering angrily to go home. Carl watched in amusement at his angry boss. From what he could guess, Vernon had failed to break them.


End file.
